http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529 &nbsp;I work at a job that has noise.&nbsp; Conflict alerts going off, other controllers coming out through speakers, while pilots talk into your ears.&nbsp; By the end of the day I am on sensory overload.&nbsp; It is nice to come home to my space on the mountain.&nbsp; &nbsp; Quiet&nbsp; reigns.&nbsp; No sound of cars, trains, or sonic booms.&nbsp; But quiet from mankind's noises doesn't mean total quiet.&nbsp;&nbsp; There is the sound of the wind as it passes through the trees.&nbsp; The raucous woodpeckers and jays.&nbsp; The loud chirp of the ground squirrels.&nbsp; A quail calling to its young.&nbsp; Noises that are soothing and calm the tattered nerves of&nbsp; this controller.&nbsp; I love waking up just before dawn and listening,&nbsp; listening as the owls whoo- whoo for the last time before they go to bed, and the woodpeckers take over.&nbsp; Enjoying the cool morning and the stillness it brings as the forest around me wakes up.&nbsp;&nbsp; The dark blue sky changes to a brilliant pink and orange, before becoming a vivid blue hue. To look out your window and see a deer wander through, its ears twitch as it swats at invisible gnats.&nbsp; Or to watch as a bobcat passes by, blending in with the brown vegetation. To observe the day old baby quail as they race to keep up with their parents.&nbsp; You can hear the mom and dad quail nervously reminding their chicks to heed. I love where i live.&nbsp; I love the fact that in my yard I have seen bull elk fight one another.&nbsp; I have heard the crashing of their antlers.&nbsp; National Geographic in my back yard! I have heard the elk bugle to one another, and found their beds where they have laid down to rest. &nbsp; &nbsp;I work at a job that has noise.&nbsp; Conflict alerts going off, other controllers coming out through speakers, while pilots talk into your ears.&nbsp; By the end of the day I am on sensory overload.&nbsp; It is nice to come home to my space on the mountain.&nbsp; &nbsp; Quiet&nbsp; reigns.&nbsp; No sound of cars, trains, or sonic booms.&nbsp; But quiet from mankind's noises doesn't mean total quiet.&nbsp;&nbsp; There is the sound of the wind as it passes through the trees.&nbsp; The raucous woodpeckers and jays.&nbsp; The loud chirp of the ground squirrels.&nbsp; A quail calling to its young.&nbsp; Noises that are soothing and calm the tattered nerves of&nbsp; this controller.&nbsp; I love waking up just before dawn and listening,&nbsp; listening as the owls whoo- whoo for the last time before they go to bed, and the woodpeckers take over.&nbsp; Enjoying the cool morning and the stillness it brings as the forest around me wakes up.&nbsp;&nbsp; The dark blue sky changes to a brilliant pink and orange, before becoming a vivid blue hue. To look out your window and see a deer wander through, its ears twitch as it swats at invisible gnats.&nbsp; Or to watch as a bobcat passes by, blending in with the brown vegetation. To observe the day old baby quail as they race to keep up with their parents.&nbsp; You can hear the mom and dad quail nervously reminding their chicks to heed. I love where i live.&nbsp; I love the fact that in my yard I have seen bull elk fight one another.&nbsp; I have heard the crashing of their antlers.&nbsp; National Geographic in my back yard! I have heard the elk bugle to one another, and found their beds where they have laid down to rest. &nbsp; en-us <p><span style="font-size: small">Wow ref...you should be reading at open mic night! </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small">I understand exactly how you feel...I love my own &quot;God's Little Acre&quot; up here at the end of the canyon.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268333 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268333 <p><span style="font-size: small">Wow ref...you should be reading at open mic night! </span></p> <p><span style="font-size: small">I understand exactly how you feel...I love my own &quot;God's Little Acre&quot; up here at the end of the canyon.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>No I am not that talented.&nbsp;</p> <br /> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268396 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268396 <p>No I am not that talented.&nbsp;</p> <br /> <p>Yep I'm with you, reffup! I love living up here with all the wildlife to watch &amp; learn their habits. Young bobcats are so fun to watch! But what damage the woodpeckers do to the wood siding &amp; deck of my house......jeesh!</p> <p>I'll add two sounds to your list: the coyotes yip-yip-yipping across the valley, and my dog snoring the rafters off the house!</p> <p>;-)</p> <p>Nice article. The TN should reprint it on the front page!</p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268408 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268408 <p>Yep I'm with you, reffup! I love living up here with all the wildlife to watch &amp; learn their habits. Young bobcats are so fun to watch! But what damage the woodpeckers do to the wood siding &amp; deck of my house......jeesh!</p> <p>I'll add two sounds to your list: the coyotes yip-yip-yipping across the valley, and my dog snoring the rafters off the house!</p> <p>;-)</p> <p>Nice article. The TN should reprint it on the front page!</p> <p>When people ask me why I&nbsp;have been commuting for 18+ years, I am giong to hand them a copy of your blog,&nbsp;A very strong sentiment well put.&nbsp;</p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268413 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268413 <p>When people ask me why I&nbsp;have been commuting for 18+ years, I am giong to hand them a copy of your blog,&nbsp;A very strong sentiment well put.&nbsp;</p> <p>A friend of mine is a CHP officier and the joke around the state is that if you screw up or piss off a supervisor then you get transferred to MOHAVE to patrol out there as your punishment.&nbsp; But the secret is they are all delighted to be stationed in Mohave so they can live in Tehachapi.&nbsp; So others think of our area as Bakes, Mohave and Lancaster when it is truly a diamond hiddened away.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268445 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268445 <p>A friend of mine is a CHP officier and the joke around the state is that if you screw up or piss off a supervisor then you get transferred to MOHAVE to patrol out there as your punishment.&nbsp; But the secret is they are all delighted to be stationed in Mohave so they can live in Tehachapi.&nbsp; So others think of our area as Bakes, Mohave and Lancaster when it is truly a diamond hiddened away.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS"> reffup... you captured life in Tehachapi's mountains and valleys perfectly and painted a beautifully descriptive picture of  "home" with your words.  You truly <b>are </b>talented but probably a little modest about it.   As a Tehachapi-born native, I thank you for saying such positive things about my town... it's a nice contrast to so many of the negative things that are said on this blog.   I love Tehachapi, warts and all.    I, too, hear the quail, coyotes, woodpeckers and owls where I live.  My favorite part of the day is just before dark settles and you hear the birds busily securing their roosting spots in the oak trees and arguing with each other over who sits where... much rustling and chatter, then total silence as darkness falls.  I have a  bobcat who appears in my front yard on a regular basis, checking out one of my shrubs because there are lizards living under it and he hears them rustling in the leaves.    I do wish I could hear the trains but I'm too far away... </span></p> http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268456 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/reffup/29529/#c_268456 <p><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS"> reffup... you captured life in Tehachapi's mountains and valleys perfectly and painted a beautifully descriptive picture of  "home" with your words.  You truly <b>are </b>talented but probably a little modest about it.   As a Tehachapi-born native, I thank you for saying such positive things about my town... it's a nice contrast to so many of the negative things that are said on this blog.   I love Tehachapi, warts and all.    I, too, hear the quail, coyotes, woodpeckers and owls where I live.  My favorite part of the day is just before dark settles and you hear the birds busily securing their roosting spots in the oak trees and arguing with each other over who sits where... much rustling and chatter, then total silence as darkness falls.  I have a  bobcat who appears in my front yard on a regular basis, checking out one of my shrubs because there are lizards living under it and he hears them rustling in the leaves.    I do wish I could hear the trains but I'm too far away... </span></p>