Silence

I was on the road today. The coaching sessions I'd scheduled were in the Northwest part of the state. The exit number where I turned off the Interstate was mile-marker 14. Had I not turned I would have been in Mississippi in just over ten minutes.

My partner Danny met me at an all you can eat pizza buffet. I love pizza but normally shun buffets. Danny worked as a chef and managed restaurants for years. He knows good food and he has never steered me wrong.

It was a business lunch, but enjoyable none the less. 

The Hamilton campus is about an hour and a half drive from my office, so when we finished up the sessions, I headed home.

That route took me by the Forks of the Black Warrior River. I've shot pictures there before, but this time it was later in the afternoon. The setting sun highlighted a bank of clouds in the distance and fog hung low over the surface of the river. The water is around 50 degrees year around, but when you're wading waist deep trying to catch an elusive rainbow trout, it seems much colder. I know this from past experience.

I stood there for a long moment enjoying the silence. Normally there is a group of locals that meet every evening to tell lies and talk politics.  But today the benches were empty. So I had the place to myself which was a good thing. I believe that a day without spending some time in silent contemplation/meditation is a wasted day.