Noise, Stress, Bombings, and Cats

So this past week was crazy for many people, in many ways, but in our immediate life here in Stockholm, we weren't faced with bombings or explosions of any sort: we just had to make a very last-minute move. I think that, in the end, we had about 48 hours notice that it wasn't going to be temporary. The entire thing was as painless as these things can be, we are now ensconsed in our new place, and despite the minor chaos, everyone's still alive and talking to everyone else.

That said, what I hadn't realized until we got here was how much happier this place would make our two cats. The entire reason for the move was major emergency work on the ancient plumbing in our old building, and for weeks prior to our evacuation, we'd been treated to noise-pollution levels of construction sounds and jackhammering, off and on, from about 7am until 4pm. We humans adjusted as best we could, though it was grating and we both currently work from home, but every morning the cats would freak out anew. 

Being cats, they had no idea that the sound of the wall being torn down in the apartment next door was not an imminent threat. They'd get used to it gradually each day, and then, after a quiet evening, it would begin again. Fast forward to our new place, and despite moving usually being one of their least-favorite things in the world, they are absolutely thrilled. They are relaxed. They are acting normally in a way that I didn't realize hadn't been happening for the past month. And I'm fairly convinced that the eye infection one of them developed just before we moved was completely stress-related. (We are also more relaxed, even though we understood that the construction guys weren't out to attack us with their jackhammers.)

All this to say that watching my cats come back into themselves makes me think of the humans who are actually in a situation where loud noises are not only really aggrivating but actually indicative of something life threatening--Syria, Iraq, and, this past week, Boston. I think of children growing up in those circumstances, with no knowledge of what it means to sit quietly at home, knowing you are safe. I think of what it must be doing to their bodies and minds, and I hope that we can find a way to give them that space, and soon.