Christmas Eve 2020
On this Christmas Eve 2020, may you all find your "heaven on earth and peace descend upon all of us." Good night.................
Oh the snowflakes fell in silence
Over Belleau Wood that night
For a Christmas truce had been declared
By both sides of the fight
As we lay there in our trenches
The silence broke in two
By a German soldier singing
A song that we all knew
Though I did not know the language
The song was "Silent Night"
Then I heard my buddy whisper
"All is calm and all is bright"
Then the fear and doubt surrounded me
'Cause I'd die if I was wrong
But I stood up on my trench
And I began to sing along
Then across the frozen battlefield
Another's voice joined in
Until one by one each man became
A singer of the hymn
Then I thought that I was dreaming
For right there in my sight
Stood the German soldier
'Neath the falling flakes of white
And he raised his hand and smiled at me
As if he seemed to say
Here's hoping we both live
To see us find a better way
Then the devil's clock struck midnight
And the skies lit up again
And the battlefield where heaven stood
Was blown to hell again
But for just one fleeting moment
The answer seemed so clear
Heaven's not beyond the clouds
It's just beyond the fear
No, heaven's not beyond the clouds
It's for us to find it here
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Garth Brooks / Joe Henry"
First Nor'easter of 2020
Finally, we have REAL snow in Vermont. The first Nor'easter hit us during the ending hours of December 16th. Where I live, we received about 16 inches of snow....measured like a true Vermonter- "eh yeap, looks like about 16 inches!"
Headed out for some snowshoeing as I wrapped up my work for the day to experience the silence. I'm sure your thinking, it can't truly be silent. There must be the sounds of cars, airplanes, etc. Well, not where I live! I headed into the woods and other than the occasional "plop" of snow off a tree, it was silent. There is some science that tells us why we hear this eerie silence during a snow storm and after putting all the science together, you end up with soundwaves being absorbed by snowy surfaces which are curved up and out into space and scattered along the way by falling snowflakes, so you can hear the "plop" of snow falling to the ground from a tree next to me, but the further sounds are muted and the result is a wonderful peacefulness and stillness during a snowstorm.
