A neighbor of ours nicknamed my family "The Loud Family." He and his family have since moved away. Come to think of it, the house next door to us goes up for sale about every three years.

He's right. My family is the loudest of all human-produced sounds. During the winter months our voices are confined indoors — come summer, the doors and windows to our house open, and our voices emerge like cicadas. By the way, cicadas are among the loudest of all insect-produced sound ...

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