All in my head?

Last night wasn't the best night I've ever had. Heading to bed rather later than usual, I was up again three times in the next couple of hours with...issues. Let's leave that at that.

As I've mentioned before, I've had the bedroom window open all winter, save for the very windy-ish, sub-zero nights. The fresh air is lovely, and as a quilter, I certainly know how to combat the chilliness in the room.

But an open window brings in more than just cool air. The junction box for our building and the one across the path sits pretty much in line with my windows; it gives off a very electrical sounding hum. The first month at the condo I slept with the windows open and a pillow over my head to drown out the constant drone. Nowadays, I only notice it when the rest of the night is perfectly still.

The persistent yapping of the dogs across the way floats in as well. Though in fairness I should mention that even with all the doors and windows closed, they can be clearly heard. They only bark when someone is out there, but they can't seem to differentiate between other condo owners and their families (friends! no barky!) and outsiders (black-masked thief! bark-bark-bark!)

Sometimes, though, there is an additional undercurrent of sound. It's just outside the recognition zone, just below a clear volume. More than anything, it sounds like music. If you listen closely, you can just make out a beat. Sighing around it may be a hint of melody. You dismiss it as your imagination, yet as soon as you stop listening closely, it resurfaces and convinces you it is real.

It drives me absolutely crazy.

Most of the time, it happens when the heat is blowing. For a time, and even now, I've thought it must be the neighbors on the other side of the wall, that our venting is somehow intertwined and the vibrations carry the sound into my place, faintly along with the hot air.

But then I'll hear it as I did last night - when all is still just before bedtime, and the heat isn't running. It happens when I'm upstairs - close to the open window. Is this the teenager from the family at the other end of the building across the path, out on the patio in the cold listening to a radio?

One of these days, I'll figure out what's going on. In the meantime, I may need to find that last set of earplugs from my auto race fan days.