It was about 11:30 tonight when I finished watching Bergman's The Seventh Seal (got it from Netflix). Good flick, but I'll be flogged by badgers if I know what it all means.

By the way, that's The Seventh Seal, about a knight in the Crusades playing chess with Death starring Max von Sydow, not The Seventh Sign, about a housewife who thwarts the apocalypse starring Demi Moore. Big difference, though it would be fun to see them swap roles.

Regardless, when I ventured out to take the movie to the communal mailbox at the end of the street, there was a fresh layer of snow covering everything that hadn't been there a few hours ago. It was really something amazing; not a footprint or tire track to be seen. In fact, I had to pay close attention to remember where the paths were to get me where I'm going.

The past couple times I've gone walking to the mailbox or out for a run at night, I've stopped just to listen. There is always a dull roar coming from nowhere in particular. It sounds like a plane overhead, but indistinct. And then there are the sounds of the cars going by. Just noise that we've become so accustomed to that we don't notice it anymore. It was alternately comforting and alarming.

Tonight, that sound was gone. All I could hear was the wind.