Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence


It started as a mission of mercy.
I was shopping the other day and because I always root through clearance stuff I came upon a
60's CD deeply discounted, 1.99, proclaimed the sale tag partially covering Janis, Hendrix , Morrison et al.
What an indignity!!
So I bought the CD and left it in my car.
I had a long drive today, so I popped it in.
And I heard the above words.
The memory that came over me was so strong that I pulled over at the next rest stop and phoned my mom. She confirmed my memory, and we shared a very long, happy and oh so costly, long distance cell call.

***************
In the summer of 69, my parents took us to our usual camping spot in Northern Saskatchewan.
Lac Laronge, beautiful wilderness in those days.
5 kids in a canvas tent for two weeks. Something we did every year.
This year though I remember my parents bathing us in the cookhouse, getting us in our warm jammies and socks, and instead of tucking us into our sleeping bags, they loaded us in the station wagon, drove down a long gravel road, and parked in an open field.
We were about to hear the radio broadcast of the first steps of Neil Armstrong on the moon.
We were in awe that night, alone, in the darkness, the huge Saskatchewan sky, and the seven of us in our jammies. Each claiming our own spot on the cars roof, we looked up at the moon and squinted to see the space travelers footsteps or shadow, or catch a glimpse of the wonder machine that took him there.
We stayed for a long time, cautious whispers and quiet breathes amongst normally rowdy children.
Blanketed by the silence of nature.
The darkness all around us, and the light of the moon and the stars.
And my mom started singing those words.
****************

And my mom hadn't remembered either, until I asked,
and I ask her if she'd sing it again over the phone.
Don't be silly she told me.
I will ask again.
And we will look at the moon while we sing.