images-2Cars honking, leaf blower buzzing, ambulance chasing, copters chopping, radios blasting, dogs barking, toddlers wailing, a murder of crows cawing at a bobcat strolling the ‘hood… what do these have in common?

No, this is not a parody of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’, Constant Reader; the common feature is NOISE! 

Clammer and cacophony is not music to our ears nor other body parts.

Not only can these high decibel sounds rattle your nerves and damage your hearing: exposure to continual high levels of noises could be related to weight gain, according to research from Sweden, a land of near incalculable quiet. I know because I’ve been there recently and because I looked up the population stats: the entire country’s population is near the same as LA’s… and the country size approximates the shape and shape of my state of CA. Get it?

While there was no link between road traffic noise and overall BMI (body mass index), there was a connection between the noise and waist size. Therefore, dieting is a waste: good nutrition can not surmount noisy effects.What comes to mind is the increasing urbanization of the fully-planned and formerly placid city where I reside: Irvine, CA, let alone the populous of LA.

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Irvine is a city where no space is wasted. It’s plan is vaunted among the first and best in the US. It’s all and well-planned.

However, Irvine is a city that is being built to the hilt with house upon house, so that the idyllic life that those who move here to seek is being edged out. And there’s almost no perimeter left here in the O.C. The critters are at a loss.

It’s no wonder that bobcats prowl our neighborhood – it used to be theirs along with the deer and other creatures of the Divine. Another example: with no creek or pond about, the raccoons wash their food in our pool and/or dig up the lawn for grubs under the soil. Without dietary choice, our property boundary is a no waste line.

Waste line. Waistline – it all comes back around…

OKAY, since you are nosey, let me confess (truth is a steadfast rule): we are only into the first week of the new year… and I’m getting my excuses out front because… I intend to break the diet resolution…

Well, Truth be told, I already did. The food in our refrig and pantry is noisy when it calls my name…

happy-new-year-celebration-background-colorful-confetti-35547675Happy 2016!