I was wandering about on Christmas Eve enjoying the quiet as I visited a few sims. I stopped at Alirium and wandering among the trees I came across an elk. I stopped and waited quietly, hoping he would not hear and take flight. Fortunately for me, elk in Second Life are much more calm and prone to stay in place than real life elk. I was once closer than this to an elk. I was deer hunting with my brothers, standing post on the side of a meadow while my older brother walked through the woods making noise so the deer would flee in our general direction. I heard a soft huff behind me and turned slowly and right across the old logging road, about 8 feet away was an old elk. You could see he was an ancient of the forest, far too old and tough for good venison. We looked at each other, both of us still and silent, and stood there hushed for what felt like several minutes but in the relativity of time may have been only seconds. After a bit, he made another huffing sound and walked quietly away. Later I showed my brothers his tracks and told them about how magical it was and they were thrilled for me. People often ask why I didn’t shoot him, though my brothers never did. They, like me, thought he had earned his peaceful passage.

It’s hard to stand still and quiet in a snow-covered forest where your every instinct urges you to stamp your feet and move about to keep warm, but if you can hew to discipline and keep still and silent, you will see so much life and beauty, fr (Read more...)

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