It’s with us all the time, yet we’re rarely conscious of its presence. It ratchets up our tension and anxiety without our even knowing it. Stealthy but lethal, the fact is that constant and unyielding ambient NOISE messes with our nervous systems in ways that just aren’t easily detectable on the surface.

When my wife and I first moved to the Northwest fourteen years ago, we lived on top of Queen Anne Hill. We loved every minute of our time there, but after a few years, we noticed that the “din” of the city which permeates every inch of Queen Anne seemed to be getting louder. In reality, it was probably about the same as it had always been, but we seemed to be more aware of it than ever before.