Silence

I was walking the dog last night before bed -- around 2am. Opened the door and got out onto the street and I noticed that it was completely silent. No wind, no traffic, no people, no animals, just a complete stillness. Any other place and a moment like that would make me uneasy. Cupertino, right after 9/11, with no planes flying and the world paused. Ashburn, during the sniper panic, no cars running on 267 or on the streets. But here, the silence, the stillness, seems natural. This is how it's supposed to be. We are the trespassers; we are what's out of place.