By Abe Villarreal
I like it that folks in New Jersey, a lot of them, sound like they are yelling when they say something ordinary. I thought this attribute was just a caricature created for TV shows. The first time I visited New Jersey, on one of those cold snowy winter days they are also known for, I found out it was true.
When you leave that little bubble you live in, you see that life is different in big and small ways, and in ways you like and don't. Maybe I could get used to loud voices, people screaming just to give directions or greet each other.
There's nothing wrong with it. Just like there's nothing wrong with speaking softly, and greeting others with only a smile. The bigger the city, the bigger the sounds. Where I live, the sounds aren't so big.
The cars make noise, only because they aren't going too fast, so you notice. When the stores are closed, and the people are inside, you hear the quiet everywhere. People are making noise, but not enough for you to hear it.
No matter where we live, or what we do, most of us are doing most of the same thing. Getting ready for work, cooking dinner for the kids, driving to get here and there. We are always moving, going somewhere, even if that somewhere is the same somewhere we get to go to each day.
Our lives are routine. Some of us like that. I do. Some of us don't. All of us are making noise. We just get around to doing it at different levels.
In small places, the kind of places that are in big empty open spaces, the animals get up before their caretakers. The rooster is the first to be heard. The truck making its way through the unpaved property is the next loudest thing. In the evening, the breeze through the trees is all you hear.
I like those kind of small places, where you know exactly what you are going to hear before you hear it, and new noises are always welcome surprises.
In big places, the kind of places that are full of everything, where there is no room to find emptiness, the noises are too many to count. Still, all those noises work together somehow, creating a symphony of excitement and movement. A sound that many people find pleasant. Sounds of creativity. Sounds that require people of all backgrounds to come together, to work together to make things happen.
I like those kinds of sounds, too. I like all the sounds that can be found in this great country of ours. All sounds are worth experiencing and celebrating.
I hope that's what we do in this new year. A year of commemoration. Of 250 years of American history, of independence, of evolution, of taking steps forward, sometimes backward, and then forward again.
For 250 years, we have been making noises. All of us. Some of us loudly. Some of us quietly. Some were heard. Others fell silent. Still, we all contributed. And we continue, in our different ways to do the same.
To be individuals, and to be groups. To be communities, and to be states. To be a nation full of noises of all kinds. Noises worth celebrating, because we all speak up, we all contribute, and we are all noisy in different ways. So keep making noise.
God Bless you in the new year.
Abe Villarreal writes about the traditions, people, and culture of America. He can be reached at
