Shut up and be happy.....sweet heart

I just got back from a stretch in civil service. No I wasn't part of the surge in Iraq or looking for terrorists in Afghanistan. I was serving my country as a juror in one of the great municipal courts here in the United States of, trial by jury, America. I have a long post formulating in my head about all the facets of jury duty, but in my pattern of writing a long post only after an appropriately short one (I have to give the one reader that I have a break, right?)
After jury duty my wife and I went to Ikea. Why go to Ikea? because I am sure amongst the millions of wicker baskets, there is something that we need or don't know that we need, but when we see the bottle opener that doubles as a guest bed, we will realize that we need it more than life itself, or the 3.49 that they are charging for it. (That and their cinnamon rolls are delicious) I love shopping with my wife because I don't have to think of anything to say. Conversations are so easy, and they go something like this:
My wife: Oh my goodness! that is so cute, I love that. Sweet heart, do you like that?
Me: I hate it.
My wife then sighs in frustration.
While in Ikea I decided to play a game that all men wish they could play with their wife at one time or another, it's the "let's see who can stay quiet the longest!" The rules are simple: The first one to talk or make any gesture that indicates communication, loses.
I continued to walk through Ikea, holding my wife's hand in total silence and I realized..... I love this. I really like being alone, but I think I really also just like complete and total silence, uninterrupted by someone asking me what I am thinking. I don't think I would like that all the time, but extended periods of total silence are wonderful. I think that so many moments are destroyed (not talking about my life or wife, but just in general) by people talking. Silence helps me enjoy moments so much more. I am not a fan or tours, because when I see something new or for the first time, or both, I want to be able to soak it in without having to either explain it or have it explained away to me. Silence makes life and everything in it so much clearer. If you haven't recently, take some time to drive off somewhere and enjoy some nice silence.