Conserving Quiet

"In nature, there is nothing wrong with quiet. It exists under the weighted depths of ocean and in the cool of rocky caverns. It spills out beneath the wings of eagles as the world below freezes. Nature is never wholly silent: she speaks in breathy whistles and the jingle of dry leaves. She listens, but she is not mute. Even in the high desert, where sage-shrouded grouse have just begun to stir and a girl sits alone in the shelter of a camouflage blind, she has so much to say in her quiet. I have been called 'quiet' from an early age. Our world of constant conversation often makes me feel expendable. There is no appropriate response to the phrase 'Youre really quiet.' It is observational."

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