The sound of silence
"In restless streets I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence."
- "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel
The song quoted above has been on my mind for the past couple days, because it's shown up in my social media multiple times and in a few different forms. The lyrics themselves speak to the importance of music, and the haunting melody has a tendency to hang around in one's temporal lobes. If you're interested, I recommend the cover by Disturbed, found here.
Besides just the song, I've been listening the sound of silence for much of the past few days. The Oregon coast is strangely quiet now that the torrential rains have stopped - no more raindrops pounding the window, no more wind shaking the walls. My fellow OIMBers are leaving campus one by one for the holidays, so the campus is getting quieter and quieter. My work has involved a lot of intense writing this week, so I've had to concentrate in silence.
Last night, two friends and I went to see the annual light show at Shore Acres State Park, just outside of Coos Bay. Shore Acres is the former estate of timber baron Louis J. Simpson, and even though the main house has since been destroyed, Simpson's botanical gardens are still maintained. Every year during Advent, the botanical gardens are decorated with thousands of colored lights, and the public is invited to walk through and enjoy them.
The drive out to Shore Acres is on a narrow, dark highway - street lights are nowhere to be found. In fact, entering the garden can be a bit of a stab to the eyes because it's so brightly lit. Nevertheless, we turned up our collars against the cold, blinked a few times, and pressed on. There was a community band playing Christmas carols in the garden gazebo and plenty of people milling around, especially families with young kids. I like the atmosphere at Shore Acres in December.
I'll spend the next few days chipping away at my dropstone manuscript before heading out of town myself. It's actually a bit nice to see things winding down, the campus emptying, the weather calming, my to-do list shortening.
Sometimes, it's nice to hear the sound of silence.
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence."
- "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel
The song quoted above has been on my mind for the past couple days, because it's shown up in my social media multiple times and in a few different forms. The lyrics themselves speak to the importance of music, and the haunting melody has a tendency to hang around in one's temporal lobes. If you're interested, I recommend the cover by Disturbed, found here.
Besides just the song, I've been listening the sound of silence for much of the past few days. The Oregon coast is strangely quiet now that the torrential rains have stopped - no more raindrops pounding the window, no more wind shaking the walls. My fellow OIMBers are leaving campus one by one for the holidays, so the campus is getting quieter and quieter. My work has involved a lot of intense writing this week, so I've had to concentrate in silence.
 |
| Shore Acres botanical garden decorated for Advent. |
Last night, two friends and I went to see the annual light show at Shore Acres State Park, just outside of Coos Bay. Shore Acres is the former estate of timber baron Louis J. Simpson, and even though the main house has since been destroyed, Simpson's botanical gardens are still maintained. Every year during Advent, the botanical gardens are decorated with thousands of colored lights, and the public is invited to walk through and enjoy them.
The drive out to Shore Acres is on a narrow, dark highway - street lights are nowhere to be found. In fact, entering the garden can be a bit of a stab to the eyes because it's so brightly lit. Nevertheless, we turned up our collars against the cold, blinked a few times, and pressed on. There was a community band playing Christmas carols in the garden gazebo and plenty of people milling around, especially families with young kids. I like the atmosphere at Shore Acres in December.
I'll spend the next few days chipping away at my dropstone manuscript before heading out of town myself. It's actually a bit nice to see things winding down, the campus emptying, the weather calming, my to-do list shortening.
Sometimes, it's nice to hear the sound of silence.
 |
| Katie, Luciana, and I at Shore Acres. |
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