As I sit here in my easy chair, trying to come up with an idea for my weekly column, I am enjoying the peace and quiet.  There are no sounds!  The television is turned off, the furnace isn’t running, the humidifier isn’t running, the refrigerator isn’t running, there are no clocks ticking, the phone isn’t ringing, and I haven’t turned on the coffee maker yet.  Nothing is broken---they just all happen to be turned off at the same time!  And the house is so quiet and so peaceful at this early morning hour.  I am enjoying it!
     When I was a “youngster”, during the spring and summer times, I and my faithful dog, Stubby, would take off through the pasture fields and be gone for hours.  At times Mom had no idea where I was, she just knew I was somewhere on the farm.  I would follow the cow paths through the pasture fields and the woods and along the creeks.  I knew every place the cows went and where to find them if they didn’t come home.  In those days they didn’t have all the rich and tasty food waiting for them at the barn, so they would forget the time and just keep chomping on the green grass or lying in the shade chewing their cuds.  There were times when my knowledge of where they liked to stay was very important, as occasionally a cow would go hide and give birth to a baby calf.  Or a couple cows didn’t come home to be milked and you knew they had found a hole in the fence.  The grass was always greener on the other side!  Most cows were free to roam in those days, not confined on cement as they are today.  People had a lot more freedom also!
     While Stubby hunted for groundhogs or chased a rabbit, I often played in the creek, wading in the cool water, watching the minnows and tadpoles, and sometimes catching them if I had a bucket with me.  I always released them back into the creek so they could be free.  There were odd shaped stones to discover and to sometimes keep.  The cow paths would wander along the creeks and through the alders, where it was always so nice and cool on hot summer days.
     We have some very big stones on our farm.  Who knows how many years ago they were deposited there or in what “age”.  In the far corner of the pasture is a very large one and I liked to sit on it and dangle my legs over the edge.  Even though I wasn’t very old, sometimes I had problems and I needed that special place to just sit and think about them.  It was also a special place for dreaming about what the future might hold for me.  It was so peaceful and so quiet just sitting there enjoying nature and feeling the joy of it.
     Our world today is filled with constant noise, troubles, and turmoil.  It seems as though everyone is in constant motion, running here, there and everywhere for one reason or another.  There is constant noise, no matter where you are or where you go!  Everyone has a phone these days that is either ringing in a hip pocket or purse or it is in a hand while someone is texting, while someone is talking, or reading unimportant things on facebook, or games are being played!      
     It is my opinion that in today’s world both children and adults of every age are in need of calmness and tranquility and the pleasure and joy that they can gain from it.  Everyone needs that special place where they can just sit quietly and forget the problems in their lives and in our country.  They need to just turn off the noise that bombards them every day and enjoy a place of joy and serenity.  Young children need a quiet place and time to explore their thoughts and their abilities.  Give them one or two simple things to play with, without other distractions, and their imaginations will soar!  In a place of peace and quiet you will relax and the stress and anxiety you are feeling will be relieved.   Find that special “rock” or place where it is calm and serene and where you can think, remember, hope, dream, and “let your troubles melt like lemon drops”.   “When the turbulence of distracting thoughts subside and our mind becomes still, a deep happiness and contentment naturally arises from within”.   (Gasha Kelsang Gyatso)