I think it takes a lot of discipline to appreciate treasures like solitude and silence.

I wandered around south Florida for a couple of weeks last month, just me and the mosquitos and the alligators and the roadkill armadillos. I had taken a wallet full of CD's with me, but then my rental car broke down and the replacement car played only cassettes. I was stuck in silence when I was out of range of decent radio stations - but it was good for me. The trip was much better without the CD's.

I keep meaning to set aside a time for silence every day, but it's something I find easy to neglect. Solitude and silence can do a lot to make us much more thoughtful and crative than we usually are.

-Joe Offer-