I was wandering about on Christmas Eve enjoying the quiet as I visited a few sims. I stopped at Alirium and wandering among the trees I came across an elk. I stopped and waited quietly, hoping he would not hear and take flight. Fortunately for me, elk in Second Life are much more calm and prone to stay in place than real life elk. I was once closer than this to an elk. I was deer hunting with my brothers, standing post on the side of a meadow while my older brother walked through the woods making noise so the deer would flee in our general direction. I heard a soft huff behind me and turned slowly and right across the old logging road, about 8 feet away was an old elk. You could see he was an ancient of the forest, far too old and tough for good venison. We looked at each other, both of us still and silent, and stood there hushed for what felt like several minutes but in the relativity of time may have been only seconds. After a bit, he made another huffing sound and walked quietly away. Later I showed my brothers his tracks and told them about how magical it was and they were thrilled for me. People often ask why I didn’t shoot him, though my brothers never did. They, like me, thought he had earned his peaceful passage.

It’s hard to stand still and quiet in a snow-covered forest where your every instinct urges you to stamp your feet and move about to keep warm, but if you can hew to discipline and keep still and silent, you will see so much life and beauty, from snowshoe rabbits plumply hopping about to ermine or weasels skittering lightly over the crust of snow and even an occasional snowy owl. It is hard to stay still, but these are some of the gifts of silence that make it worthwhile.

Alirium’s cold weather is not quite so bitter, so I wore the sheer top from Connors for Limited Couture with the fabulous pants from Celoe. My shoes are from Nardcotix and are so chic I hid them from your eyes! My necklace was a Christmas present. It comes from Balderdash as does the fun headpiece. My earrings and bracelet are from EarthStones – the Christmas jewelry from a few years ago.

I added hair from Exile and skin from Amacci. Alirium does not allow huds or posestands, so I just used my AO and caught myself in poses as best I could.

***STYLE NOTES******

• Poses: ANA_Mations::ViXenAO::
• Skin: Amacci Skin – Jenny (Fair) – 02 Beauty
• Eyes: [PXL] Eyes – Glow – DarkGreen – Med
• Lashes: [LeLutka]-2011 lashes/curl/touch me
• Hair: ::Exile:: Veronique:Persimmon
• Tank Top: *Connors* TANK TOP SNOW
• Top: *Connors* DESIGN SEE-THROUGH SNOW
• PAnts: [celoe.lolong.trousers.tapa.M]
• Shoes: NX-Nardcotix Zoe Platform L SLV.3 Monochrome
• Necklace Balderdash – Bit of Christmas
• Earrings/Bracelet: EarthStones Dangle Beads
• HEadpiece: Balderdash – Draoi – headpeice – m/c
• Location: alirium