"But, when I sit in alone the middle of nowhere, up in Kent County, on a crisp fall dusk, with nare a strip of wind, and all the creatures in the woods, even the bugs, grow quiet, and the silence is literally deafening, so much so that you make a noise to see if sound exists, that's when I am at peace... when it feels good to be alive." gnu

Gnu, I will always be in awe of one perfect moment like that- I stood alone high in the mountains, the sun hot all around me- way below me off the precipitous cliffs hawks and turkey buzzards circled and made their cries... I felt as much a part of LIFE as the boulder beside me, as the sky above me, as the deer I could feel all around me as their dainty hoof prints in the dust attested. I didn't feel insignificant at all, rather my existence felt important. I've never had quite that transcendental feeling since.