To be alone...and miles to go

       "The only other sound's the sweep
          of easy wind and downy flake.

         "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.   

         But I have promises to keep,   

         And miles to go before I sleep,   

        And miles to go before I sleep."
            --Robert Frost, --"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

It's so important to be alone, to be able to be alone. I thought of this this afternoon, watching the snow fall and silence the hustle of the city. You can't be a photographer if you aren't inspired by snow to take photos. You can't be a journalist if you don't relish a little time alone, to think, to imagine, to wander. Snow does that for me.

Our world doesn't want us to be alone, and does everything in its power to prevent it. Constant noise, intruding technology and diversions. Organizations burden you with paperwork and rules to keep you from private time to think. Thinkers cause problems. Rules keep them drugged. Privacy is becoming obsolete. I treasure the walks, the sounds of silence.

When I walk in Hafer Park, rare is the time when others aren't there, and when they are, if not in company with another person or pet, they're plugged into a music device, robbing them of the sounds of the trees and grasses and creatures.

How could I not think of Robert Frost's poem, and as dusk fell, go down to Hafer Park for a few photos of this season's rare snowfall. It was so quiet, so alone.

Such a shame, to divorce ourselves from nature,  from reality, to be not alone. There are so many miles to go.