Listening to the Silence

My middle growing-up years were in Pennsylvania on our little acre of hilly land, out of sight from everything, but within earshot of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Most every summer, we would pack up the Mercury wood-sided station wagon with us four kids, our little brown suitcase of ‘things to do’, and a Johnny Cash eight track tape and head west on that turnpike.  Most often we would leave on Friday night after my Dad got home from working at the shop, and my parents would take turns driving, straight through, to my Grandparent’s place in South Dakota.  We would arrive early Sunday morning before my Grandpa headed off to church and my Grandma put a large beef roast in the oven.  It was always good to be back Home!

One evening–maybe that very first one after our long drive–my Dad was sitting on the porch stoop.  I opened the door, walked out onto the porch, and asked him what he was doing.  He said, “I’m listening to the Silence.”  I can’t remember how old I was at the time, but I remember thinking that was a crazy thing to say!  How can you listen to Silence?!  He patted the cement beside him for me to sit down.  He told me about hearing the crickets and frogs, the cows lowing in the paddock as they came up from the pasture to the round, wooden water tank, how the windmill squeaked as the breeze moved the blades, and how the geese chattered in the slough over the hill.  We sat there together for a while, and I really started to listen for all the different sounds of the Silence on the farm.

Today is Father’s Day and the First Day of Summer!  I smile when I realize it’s 10 o’clock in the evening, and there’s still a hint of light outside.  I love it when I can go outside with no coat and no shoes!  I laugh at our dog when we go out to get the mail, and she rolls in the warm grass and watches me walk to the mailbox.  I marvel at all the bird mamas and daddys who are flying, hunting, and taking care of their babies.

Summer is…my most favorite flower–perennial Blue Flax…

blooms and birdhouses…

rain…

bumblebees…

and birds.

Summer is being outside with Nature, toes in the grass, head under the stars, fish on the line, sun on skin, and listening to the Silence.

Thinking back on those 1500 mile trips with four kids in the car, the constant buzz of turnpike traffic at our house, and the din of diesel engines working as a truck mechanic, it’s no wonder my Dad wanted the calm and quiet of an evening on the farm in South Dakota.  That special memory of me and my Dad has stayed in my mind and heart for decades, and I continue to appreciate the quiet sounds of Nature.  Happy Summer to all of you, and if you can’t be with your Dad today, I hope you can call to mind a special memory of him while listening to the Silence of Nature.