There's a new essay up on the
Internet Brothers
Community. Someone needs to write the Rules of Etiquette for cell phone usage.
This is a good start. From Eliot Wilder, it is titled Simple Acts of Cellvility.
Follow the Storytelling link.
A friend commented to me the other day
that I did not really say much about my Alaskan vacation. Believe me, it is not because
the adventure lacked anything. Simply put, I am steeped in the sounds of silence.
Returning home and having to enter the
reality world of work, bills, and the simple basics of everyday life rather stunned me
into a catatonic silence. A silence that perhaps was my mind's method of paying
reverence to the rough beauty and unbridled energy of the Alaskan water, mountains and
cities that had previously fed my spirit and re-energized my soul.
My adventure began on a cross country
plane trip. I am not averse to flying and relished the opportunity to watch the topography
below me change as the airplane chased the western sun across the sky. I did not strike
up a conversation with my seatmate. I did not watch an in-flight movie. I simply sat in
silence and enjoyed the moments of time heading westbound, anticipating ... waiting.
Eventually I met up with
Dave, the other
Internet Brother, in Salt Lake City and north
to Anchorage we flew. It was wonderful to see him, to share conversation with the man I
grew up with, and to enjoy the comfortable silence that familiarity allows ... each of us
deep into our own perceptions and dreams of what Alaska might hold for us.
Because this trip was actually a
celebration of the marriage of our parents, I began to think deeply about the importance
of relationships and what it is that allows some to endure 50 years. It is overwhelming
to me — to grasp the truly remarkable achievement that a 50 year anniversary
reflects: trials and tribulations, joy and happiness ... and the moments of silence
that must have been captured in all the many days, hours and minutes.
I thought I wanted to write a bit of a
travelogue to highlight the many vistas we saw, or perhaps a narrative of the anecdotes
along the way. However, my spirit is moved to silence. For now. A quiet homage to the
adventure of a lifetime.
But I make you this promise ... as time
passes and the sun sets in the western sky again, I will share bits and pieces of the
recollections ... the memories, the adventures and the laughter that was lifted up to the
Alaskan sky and drifts now in the sounds of silence.
