Ask Amy: Nature lover hates all the noise

Dear Amy: I have young children at home, as well as a job where I am constantly bombarded by sound. I frequent outdoor spaces seeking peace, solitude and the quiet sounds of nature — for my mental health.

I am dismayed at the proliferation of Bluetooth speakers, large and small. They seem to be everywhere! Hiking trails, lakes, on boats, at the pool, while camping, even strapped to people while they are biking and skiing! And it gets worse when there are multiple, conflicting speakers in the same place.

Few seem concerned about the noise pollution they are inflicting on others around them. I wish I could ask people to use headphones when they are alone, or at least turn down the sound so it is mostly heard by a group in a small vicinity, not everyone around them.

Is there a respectful way to ask people to turn their music down or off so that those of us wishing for quiet can also share the space?

Amy says: My time on this earth has been long enough that I've seen two iterations of this problem — first in the 1970s/'80s, with the rise of the mighty "boombox," and now with the prevalence of personal Bluetooth speakers.

Back in the boombox days, cities started enacting and enforcing noise ordinances (especially on public transportation). That, and the rise of the Walkman, seemed to finally bring on the sounds of silence.

Little did any of us realize that we would look back on the last three decades as halcyon days of relative quiet.

It seems that people who blast music while in public are finding ways to dominate the space, and it is not always wise to confront this sort of dominance.

Your town and local park system might find it appropriate to enact (or enforce) rules regarding noise pollution. You would be doing your neighbors a favor by taking up this cause to these governing bodies.

Dear Amy: My husband and I have seven adult children: Two are his, four are mine, and one is "ours." All are estranged at this time.

I worded my will so that the estate is to be divided equally among the children who can show they have been in contact with me within the last six months. That can be through phone records or texts or word of mouth from the others.

Estrangement is a common problem in my family. My grandfather was estranged from his family. My mother was estranged from me, her only child. And now it has hit my children.

Amy says: "Estrangement is a disease in my family." What a tragic occurrence. I'm going to assume that cutting others off is your family's way of coping with intense emotions.

This sets up a situation in which everyone lacks the skills to deal with conflicts. You were estranged from your mother, and so your children didn't witness a parent and child coping with the ups and downs of a relationship, resolving conflict and forgiving one another.

Your attempt to resolve this by trying to control your children via your will seems like a superficial fix to a deep problem. A therapist might help you to find other ways to undo your legacy of estrangement.