The Quiet Between Miles

I took the long way home this afternoon, mostly because the highway felt too loud. I pulled over near a field where the grass was just starting to turn that impossible, bright shade of green that only happens after a good rain. I didn’t have a destination, and for once, I didn’t check my phone to see if I was behind schedule. I just stood there, listening to the wind move through the stalks. It’s funny how we spend so much of our lives rushing toward a finish line, convinced that the value of a journey is measured by how quickly we can put it behind us. But standing there, with the dust settling on my shoes and the horizon stretching out wide and indifferent, I realized that the best parts of any trip aren’t the places we arrive at. They are the moments in between, where you stop moving long enough to notice the world breathing right alongside you. Do you ever find yourself stopping just to see what the silence has to say?

Naude Visser has captured that exact feeling of stillness in the image titled From the Western Cape. It perfectly mirrors that sense of peace I found by the roadside, where the land seems to hold its breath. Does this view make you want to pull over and stay a while, too?