We Sat In Silence
Lyrics
Two bald eagles Locked their claws Spun with wings out wide And did a trust fall Something city boys Rarely get to see Life was different there Surrounded by trees Saw water turn green With nature’s neon lights Couldn’t count the stars That filled up the night Distant thunder rolled As clouds moved in Echoed down the valley From end to end We sat in silence As calm as could be Nothing left to say And I knew you still believed Still believed in me Cooked fish off the line Brought up from the lake Got to talkin’ And stayed up too late We told a few tales Some of ‘em lies Like the one about how The Blackhawk flies Out of the pan Right into the flame We found a way And took care of what came Days were long But weeks were fast Blink of an eye And summer had passed If I saw you today Though years have been lost We’d pick right up Just where we left off We sat in silence As calm as could be Nothing left to say And I knew you still believed Still believed in me
The Story
During my high school and college years I often spent the summer at Malibu Club, a Young Life camp for high school kids located north of Vancouver B.C. I volunteered as a cook helping to fix meals for up to 450 campers and staff each week.
The camp is in the Princess Louisa Inlet, which looks like a mountain lake but the tide rolls in and out every day. The only way to get there is by boat or seaplane as roads don't go that far into the wilderness. And back then we didn't have cell phones either. It was truly remote, completely void of television, internet, or advertisements. If you wanted to listen to music you had to bring your own CDs. The silence and serenity of that place was truly amazing.
Looking back on it now I can't believe they gave my friends and I the responsibility of feeding that many people as we were all in our early twenties. Plus the food supplies were only delivered once a week and the closest grocery store was hours away, so we had to figure out how to handle whatever challenges presenting themselves. Not only did we make genuine friendships along the way, but we learned we were capable of performing well under pressure.
Some of my most cherished memories are from that time and place. I rarely communicate with my friends from that period of my life, but when I see them we really do pick up right where we left off.
How would you describe the feeling of meeting up with an old friend and being able to reconnect instantly?
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