Peace

(January 4, 1999, 3:19 p.m.)

The owls call to each other early on a mid-winter evening. Just as the last rays of sunlight sink into a rosy glow, a silence settles over the countryside. For a short time, everything is hushed. In that near-dark hour, the wind lays and no sound is heard --as though the whole forest listens.

The moment is brief as daytime creatures find their nests and those of the night begin to awaken. It is time to rest from our own activity, to find a quiet hour to let pressures ebb away.

One of the greatest wonders is the rhythm and order of nature. But even greater is the flexibility of human nature -- that we can move, think, project, plan and see all of it in perspective. And as the day wanes, we can put it all down and take on the peace of nature.

Heed little the melancholy nights that keep tune with sorrowful thought.

Peace, Tawanka