I'd Forgotten What Silence Sounds Like

I woke up in the middle of the night (around 3:45), and realised something was different. It was silent. Completely silent. No footsteps on the pavement, cars in the street, planes in the air, or sirens in the distance.... just the quiet rhythm of my husband breathing next to me. I honestly can't remember the last time I heard nothing.

The silence was deafening.

When people ask me what I miss most about the States, its not a shop or restaurant, not an accent or a food (though I do miss my Lucky Charms and Peter Pan peanut butter!), it's the stillness. It's the fact that wherever I was, I could be close to doing nothing. Even living in town- I could hop in the car, drive out to the country, and see an empty field with a handfuls of hay bales drying in the sun. I could walk into a forest, where the only bustle is the squirrels and the only twitter is the birds.

I miss the breathing space.