Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain,
still remains,
within the sound of silence.....
One of the things I like best about being here is the peace and quiet - the sheer silence of the ambiance. I do hear a car pass by from time to time if one of my windows are open. In summer, I hear more sound; my neighbour's four red-headed girls enjoying the pool, sometimes a lawnmower, and more often planes nearing landing or taking off at a domestic airport some kilometres away. On weekends there would be more noises as hobby pilots and private jets took to the air. Still, on the whole my neighbourhood is extremely quiet and I love it.
It's Christmas eve and it deliciously silent and tranquil. My two boys have gone out to see Christmas lights in the city. My seven guests left for home yesterday after a week's busy and noisy stay. And I am all alone again, naturally (as in the Gilbert O'Sullivan song)!
It's my third Christmas here. On my first year's Christmas I was on my way home by car with Yocki after a few days in Prague visiting a colleague who had just had a massive heart attack and needed a heart transplant (he's well and healthy today, with a new and younger heart, Alhamdullilah) with two nights stop in Vienna. It was a beautiful dry, moonlight night and what lovely sights as we passed cities after cities beautifully lighted with Christmas decorations.
On Christmas eve last year I was in Marrakesh, Morocco and there was not much sign of Christmas celebration though the hotel I stayed in prepared a supposedly Christmas buffet!
Tonight I am happy to just be home, alone in this beautiful silence. There is nothing on TV I want to watch, I may listen to a cd later. And I have just opened a 1 kg box of hand-made chocolates with 82 delicious pieces, one of the few boxes I received from well-wishers. Tomorrow I shall take a drive in the country; last week's heavy snowfall is finally melting away and you could see the greens again. In the evening I will have dinner with my colleagues Chitra, Alev and Perrin. Saturday to a Gregorian chant concert at the Munster.
Happy Christmas everyone!
Or is it politically more correct to say " seasons' greetings ".....
1 comment:
I hardly ever have silence in my life, Roem. Not with my daughters and my eight grandchildren to fill in any silence. But I dont yearn for it, maybe because I've never had it, totally, I mean. There are moments of silence, but always with some sort of background noise, like the hum of the air-cond or the whirring of a fan.
Wow to have 82 pieces of chocolate all to yourself, that is the height of epicurean delight. Dont eat them all at once. You gotta watch your sugar level.
Well, season's greetings to you, too. More of Salam Maal Hijrah 1430. Be sure to usher out the old year with a doa akhir tahun after asar and usher in the new year with a doa awal tahun after maghrib prayers. May you be blessed with all the good things Allah has in store for the new year.
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