Not every quiet man is humble, but every humble man is quiet.

Isaac The Syrian

Is it just me? It seems like everywhere I go these days there are people chatting away. I never fail to open a door but what there isn't someone behind it wanting words to come out of my mouth.

It's not that I am particularly humble either. It's just that I crave some quiet, a place free of words and their competing vibrations. Others seem impervious to the effects of so many vibrations. Me, I get kind of sea sick from it.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the chatters in my life. I find them almost infinately amusing. Last week I got so tickled at my sister-in-law that I started laughing out loud. She's so independent that she doesn't even need another person in order to have a conversation!

And, in all their chattering, they are quick to tell me things about myself that I would never have noticed on my own. Linda doesn't need to buy anything because she's a hermit... Linda always pays retail... I'm surprised Linda eats meat because she cried when we saw that dead dear, 'member... Seeing myself through their eyes... well, I've taken it all under consideration.

People in this town often ask me if I am Ms. McMillan's daughter. Well, in one sense I am. But I also AM Ms. McMillan. Whatever. Some people think they know me because they know my mother. They do not. My mother is the nice one, the community organizer, the philanthropist, the talented one, woman of the year even... twice!

I am the quiet one.