Silence and Nature

 The beauty of nature has always captured me. Since childhood, I have loved sitting for long periods of time beside the river or at the edge of wheat fields looking out toward the Rockies at sunset. I sat in silence, watching, thinking, soaking in the beauty.

  I wanted to share those moments with someone who could see, appreciate, soak it in with me. But those I invited had a threshold of about 2 minutes before they were done and off to the next exciting thing. That left a hole.

  Last week, I had the opportunity to be at a silent retreat in the chaparral mountains of southern California. One early morning, a large group of us walked in the light of the moon and stars to the top of the mountain in silence. We sat to soak in the beauty of the sunrise. There was a moment when tears streamed down my cheeks and I could hardly contain myself as I wanted to jump up and say, "THANK YOU for being here with me in this beautiful moment and the silence!" It was deeply healing for me. And beautiful. And fulfilling.

  Thank you to all my new friends who soaked in the beauty of the wonders of nature and the togetherness of silence. I am forever grateful.