The sound everybody needs to hear

You've heard spoken many times before: "I heard the sound of silence and it changed me." Yesterday I went up to the Valley of the Fallen, an enormous cross monument created as a memorial for those who died in the bloody Spanish Civil War. When I was there, I wondered how many tourists came home with identical pictures of the thing--once you're at the base of it, there's little room for photographic creativity. Every picture shows what an ant must see when it looks up at a human.

So this cross is on top of a mountain in a secluded area (there's a functioning monastery 100 feet away). Although the occasional car drives by in the far distance, this is a place where you can hear the beautiful sound of silence. Usually when I hear it, I think something like, "Come on wind and trees, speak to me!" But this time I had no revelations. I just sat there for a minute and thought about how nice it was to hear nothing.

As I write, some idiot is renovating his apartment next door. Mr. Renovator isn't always drilling things. He seems to also have an insatiable taste for bad American music...bands I typically only listen to to have a good laugh. I'm talking about Nickelback, the Backstreet Boys, Rihanna, and yes, Evanescence (thanks again, Mr. DIY...p.s. http://www.thewebshite.net/nickelback.htm).
Anyway city life is great. The adjustment hasn't been drastic at all. I thought it might have had obvious repercussions, but things are not so noticeably different. Sometimes, though, it's essential to escape this huge silence-poverty, sit on a mountain, and hear nothing but the wind and the trees.

-griff

Wedding Dress in Bloom

i look up from the ground
see a tree with her gown
she most certainly has a bride.
the buds of her branches
sway over the city
begging to be noticed.
the sun is her spotlight
and she is beautiful.

21

I'm Old! more than half way to 40, only 79 more years 'till 100!

-griff