Sound of Silence

When I lie in bed at night it is quiet in my house, well… except for the sound of the fan that my husband insists on. On nights that I convince him that we really don’t need to be blasted with a stream of cold air, it seems so peaceful in my home. Oh sure- there are little noises like the A/C or the refrigerator running, but last night I learned just how noisy my house is. I was fast asleep when deafening silence woke me up. The power had gone out and the fan stopped, so did the refrigerator, the A/C, dehumidifier, sump pump, the whirr of the DVD player that was left on, the hum of the cable box, the buzz of the under cabinet kitchen light left on by Mr. Conservation, and any other numerous electronic devices that make little hums all the time. I was astonished at just how loud my house was and how quiet it can be.
Of course I got up and checked the basement as the sump pump would not be running and phoned the power company. So it was not a bad thing that the silence woke me. By the way calling the power company is no small feat when my house is freakishly dark either. I went back to sleep and when the power came back on about 2 hours later I was once again awakened by all the noise of my house. Tonight I have been trying to figure out what could be turned off.
The A/C- No, Deer likes it just above freezing.
Fan- No, I won’t tolerate actual freezing so Deer does his best to freeze my toes off with the fan.
The ceiling fans- No, again see previous need for arctic temperatures.
Sump pump- Uhm Noooo, I am in no hurry to see my house float away.
Dehumidifier- already set at energy saver mode – damp moldy basement is bad.
Cable box- makes sound whether on or off; plus it is not practical to pull TV away from wall every night before bed to just to unplug it.
Refrigerator –spoiled food is bad for you.
Deep freeze- again spoiled food is bad for you.
So that just leaves the DVD player- ok I turned that off- and the lovely buzzing light in the kitchen that I want off anyway. Oh and of course my computer, but I am typing right now- so I will turn that off when I am done.

That is the sound of silence in my house; what does yours sound like?