The Sound of Silence

I walked out to my front yard in the wee hours of this morning with a dog that needed out. I was greeted by a beautiful starry sky, pleasant temperature, and the sound of a train passing through. Not one of those is anything I consider out of the ordinary.

I've lived in this town for over 30 years and trains have always been a part of the fabric of life around here. Two major railroad companies maintain lines and there is not one place in this town where a train cannot be heard, or in some cases felt. I find that I give the trains little mind. My house is a mere two blocks from the tracks but unless the train is very heavy or has an unusual sounding whistle its passage is largely unnoticed. I just don't give the trains much thought! Nor do I give much thought to the occasional sound of a truck from the highway or the small planes that fly overhead as they approach our  airport.

September 11, 2001, another of those 'dates that shall live in infamy', changed the sounds of our town, of our state, of our country. For on that date, all rail and air transportation was halted for a few days as our nation tried to cope with the senseless acts that took so many lives and shattered our sense of safety and well being.

The sound of silence was deafening.