"Marga hears too much!"

Hyperacusis, hypersensitivity to noise, is less well known than tinnitus, but there are many people who suffer more or less severely from it.
In this section “Marga hears too much” Marga van Hintum will blog about her experiences with Hyperacusis regularly.

Spring in the vegetable garden
They laugh at me, those little tiny mini plants. From lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, paprika and pods. They laugh at me. They are shinning hugely there, on the windowsill. Outside it is still far too cold for my little ones. Too cold and too windy these days. They would blow away like that. Too bad, right?
For now they are warm, dry and as sunny as possible. I look after them every day, they can’t grow fast enough for me. I address them lovingly. And every now and then they get some water. Lukewarm water, because I don’t want to scare those little ones! They look satisfied. And so it should be.
When the weather is better, and especially important, when it doesn’t freeze anymore, the little ones can go outside. Playing outside. Going into puberty. It’s nice to grow much bigger. And bear fruit. So that we can enjoy them as we nibble! A little cruel thought it is. But well, they have had a good life, very good. Much better and much more loving is hardly possible.

Learning by doing
A house with a garden. I’ve never felt like it before. Never had the time too. I have always lived in an apartment. But a few years ago we were looking for a bigger house. And coincidentally this house had a large ornamental garden, at least for metropolitan concepts. Until then I had never done some gardening. And had neither green genes nor green fingers. But from one day to the next I had to prune, dig, plant and weed. The house was beautiful, we liked it very much. That garden, we took it by the way. Part of the deal.
Something went dead the first few years, unfortunately. But by doing one learns. And then the vegetable garden came back into fashion! We started with a modest corner with some lettuce, rocket and chives. It tasted like more. And so over the years the vegetable garden secretly gained a little more ground every year. And by doing I learned.
There were tomatoes, oh so delicious. And pods, also so delicious, when it comes fresh from their own soil! I got more and more fun in the gardening. The sweet peppers and paprikas turned out to do great in a hot summer. The cucumber plant, given free of charge by Albert Heijn’s (dutch Supermarket – RI) vegetable garden campaign, also benefited enormously from the heat last year.

On Sunday morning
Since I have hyperacusis*, I garden a lot indoors. It seems like a contradiction, but it is possible, inside. And outside, I can do that especially on Sunday morning. I wrote about it before. During the week it is far too noisy for us. Especially from city traffic. All day long, unfortunately. But on Sunday morning, then it is quiet. And then I hope, that the birds also sleep in. And as long as the birds relax elsewhere, I can do it in our vegetable garden.
In early spring I already started making a plan. What am I going to sow, when and where will it be. Because a crop can not always be in the same place; then it does not grow well. And then, from February, the Great Sowing begins. Indoors, on the window sill.
And there they are now, nice and warm. I cherish them, the babies. I give them a good portion of love, my little plants. And I secretly look forward to the harvest. Tasty!

* Hyperacusis, literally “I hear too much”, is a condition where you are hypersensitive to ordinary everyday sounds. Everything sounds too loud. “The volume knob of ambient sounds stands for someone with hyperacusis permanently at too high a setting” (source: foundation Hoormij)
Hyperacusis occurs in many forms. For me, especially higher frequencies are very annoying and hurt my head. I also have tinnitus. Concentration is more difficult and focusing on a sound source is more difficult.