DP Challenge: The Sound Of Blogging; Silence

“Music is the silence between the notes.”

Claude Debussy

Recently, I posted a blog about a wonderful experience among the giant redwoods of California https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/the-california-redwoods/ .  While it was fantastic for many reasons, the most stunning thing for me was the profound silence I felt standing among them.  When I saw that the Weekly Writing Challenge was related to sounds, I immediately thought of the redwood forest and the depth of emotion that, for me, was evoked by the sound of silence.

We are bombarded on a daily basis by a cacophony of noise.  Traffic, 24-hour news, emergency sirens, cellphones-both our own and those of others; I could go on and on.  Of course, sound can also be wonderful.  Children laugh, choirs sing, lovers whisper, birds chirp, oceans roar.  But for me the sound of silence, its stillness and the peace that comes with it, surpasses them all.

Ansel Adams said “When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.  When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”  As a photographer, it is my hope that the images I’ve chosen for this piece convey the pleasure and contentment I feel when surrounded by the stillness of nature.

GRAZING – LENOX, MA

“See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars,the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” 

Mother Theresa

LAZY DAY – WILLAMETTE VALLEY

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn,

whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. ”  

Helen Keller

SUNRISE AT ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA

“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words”

    Elbert Hubbard

MORNING FOG, MENDOCINO

“True Silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.”    

William Penn

MISTY MORNING, KIAWAH ISLAND

“Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it.”        

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Tags: DP Challenge, fog, horse, Kiawah, landscape, Mendocino, nature, redwoods, travel

• August 29, 2012
• Angkor Wat, California, DP Challenge, Fog, Kiawah, Landscape, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Redwoods, Travel
• 29 Comments