4-11-06/ Around 1:00 p.m.

Earlier I checked my car clock because I was curious of the time. I thought it was probably around 2:30, but it was only noon. That's a weird feeling.

I did go for a walk but didn't make it to the store. Instead I went along one of the nature trails that are in the park. It was a great walk in which I was reminded how much more humid it is here than in Central Texas.

Read some more then made a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwich with Pringles.

Nouwen's book is reminding me why I'm doing this: Silence. Here are some quotes I've underlined:

* Silence is solitude practiced in action.
* Our heightened verbal ability, which enables us to make distinctions, has sometimes become a poor substitute for a single-minded commitment to the word who is life.
* Silence is the home of the word.
* Ideas of value always shun verbosity.
* Sometimes it seems that our many words are more an expression of our doubt than of our faith. (I love that one.)
* We have become so contaminated by our wordy world that we hold the deceptive opinion that our words are more important than our silence.
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I'm wondering if I should go on with this path of journaling my time here or if I should start working more on book stuff.

I also feel the possibility that I'm treating this as an escape, rather than a retreat. The thought of Kyle's death, while horrible enough in the world in which I live, is almost unbearable without all the props of people and other distractions.