Tender Silence is captured in this moment at the edges of woodlands and within the breath of our very existence.
Twilight comes and the day's brilliant colors feather into soft pastels among the band of clouds as the sun dips into a world of enchantment.
Light fairies tiptoe on the first stars and elves
finger-feel their way through the valleys, in light fantastic dance on the slopes. They
leap for fun and joy from one mountaintop to another. Others congregate into one
continuous ring to encircle a summit. The bright-eyed smiling face of the Moon-Man showers
the night with radiance and the twinkle in his eye is one moment mischievous and the next
silly, as its beams shimmers down through tree and brush.
Rippling and cascading down and around this scene are the streams spilling over into waterfalls and pools. They add light hearted music to this happy atmosphere as the star performers appear in the background.
The Prince and Princess float in on a lovely wind singing and dancing their hearts for the whole world's joy. The power of their happiness brings sweet harmony and creates a captivatingly beautiful mountain night in this enchanting place we call home.
Home is where the heart is in the world and the universe. The mood is one of mystery as night flows into the precious reality of the dawn's early light.
It is that time of the year when nature's individual players are tuning into their own souls to get in touch with that which will become a part of the Symphony of Spring.
Mountains and valleys, fields and meadows, are the stage upon which a new season's performance will delight the senses of all who wish to go beyond the curtain of the rhyme and reason of Appalachian Country's rhythm and seasons.
Copyright © 1988-2000 Barbara A. Smith and John G. Hipps. All rights reserved.
This essay was first published March 8, 1989 in the Free-Press Courier, Westfield, Pennsylvania.