One of the moments which will forever stay with me in years to come when I look back at this strange time, would have to be the one last Saturday afternoon.  We took a long drive towards Russian River on unusually empty roads.  We had been sheltering in place for about 10 days by then and being outside felt like traveling to a different time zone.  Empty shops, streets, a few people in masks, the sky scrapers of downtown San Francisco looked like empty columns, standing there purposelessly..it was a true scene from the many movies in which a disaster or dark force has wiped a whole city clean and left a few survivors hurrying passed you to take shelter.  We drove passed the city and crossed over the empty Golden Gate bridge normally hustling and bustling with bicyclists, and walkers crossing over to Sausalito on a nice spring afternoon.  We took the scenic route which we had taken many times before.  Though it felt different, ironically it looked more alive.  The flowers looked brighter, the air looked somehow even more transparent. On a hunch and in the spirit of exploration and being in no hurry to be anywhere, we took a small side road and found ourselves going through a tree tunnel hovering over the road, which was exhilarating to drive through.  As we came out of the other side of the tunnel, there was a creek lined with yellow flowers and low hills all along the side.  With no cars in sight, I asked Ebby to stop for a moment… and that is when I heard it as soon as I got out of the car…The most profound, overwhelming Silence,.. took my breath away.  The silence in which the constant background humming has suddenly stopped and you just realize there has been a humming all along…The magnificent nature was singing in this profound silence the most vibrant song.  It was through this silence when for the first time, I heard the language of nature, the flapping of the wings of the birds, the falling of a leaf into the creek, the buzzing of the many bugs, the sound of the clouds moving in the sky, the many different songs of birds, whereas before they all melted into one even if ever heard.. The reflection of the hills and the velvet yellow flower in that creek surrounded by the absolute silence and songs of nature was a moment in which I was profoundly humbled with gratitude for this gift we call life, for the ability to sense all this, having lived in this moment in time to take all this in, and feel Raw Nature with all its magical, mystical power, even if for just a short moment, as I stood there in awe…I thought this is the moment of impact which I will forever cherish when I recall my memories of living through the Pandemic of 2020….