One night, many years ago I was angry with a family member. So I drove into the mountains as far as I could until I had to stop. Road blocked, snow ahead.
A U-turn and several downhill miles, brought me to a pull out adjacent to a trickling creek. I unrolled my sleeping bag in the bed of the truck and regarded the stars. A moment later I felt sunlight beyond my eyelids.
I was not ready to wake up.
I heard a sound. Not the usual one under the circumstances: A twenty some year old seasonal ranger asking "Sir, you realize you are camping out-of- bounds?" I'd talked my way out that situation numerous times.
No, no.
This was a different sound, one that I've spent nearly 30 years trying to describe.
My eyes snapped open to the broad undulating wings of a hawk passing overhead. It receded over the road, out into the canyon below.
Still I hear that repeated sound...
Using mere words, the best I've come up with is "waft" or the indicative" wafting".
Employing a more mechanical approach: an umbrella slamming full in a strong breeze, the sound of a parachute blissfully opening after throwing oneself out of an airplane (something I've not yet done).
But everything falls short. There is no way to describe what I heard that morning, let alone my attendant emotions.
All the more reason to talk little, write less, and experience more.
