Silence

We took a walk along the beach at sunset. After finding a spot to sit and talk, I became enveloped by the sounds of crashing, receding, coming, roaring . . . There was one moment when it became completely silent. And not a small moment, like a hiccup of stillness, but a sustained suspension of sound. I was awed. I was struck by how the waves, though the beat and beat and beat upon the beach, how they roll back on each other and crash with towering power, can suddenly stop.

And leave your ears full of ringing.