Peace or just quiet? I'm not sure.

Woke to another blanket of snow this morning. Unlike Tuesday it came quietly, without the drama of high winds and forecasts of blizzards, power outages and flight delays.

I woke, and as is my habit, put on my socks and slippers and walked to the window to take a peek at the new day. Though overcast, it has a very pale pink tinge like a rare pearl, and the snow is just barely falling. Tiny, tiny flakes and my mind asks, "Are there really no two alike?" It seems impossible.

I put on my thick red rob, walk downstairs, open the front door, and walk out into the most profound quiet I've felt in a long time. I'd never thought about it before but 'quiet' is quite different than 'silence'. Silence is the absence of sound. Quiet has sounds but they're more reverent, hushed, respectful of life. If it weren't so cold I'd bring my pillow out and lay on the glider and just soak it in. Instead I get a blanket and wrap it around myself and go back out, breathing in and out, watching my breath disappear into the pearly morning. I hear no traffic, no snowplows, no snow-blowers, not even the rustle of the tiniest leaf that might be left on the trees. Just my breath, my heart and the snow falling. A rare moment.

Even now, as I write this, the moment is gone. The snow blowers have started and the pristine blanket of new snow is being shoved aside in favor of concrete and asphalt. Such a shame on this morning. I wonder if I'm the only one who witnessed that perfect, quiet moment. If so, it wasn't wasted. I'm thankful.



PS My neighbor is blowing our driveway. I'm humbled by the noise.