2025:SUNNY CAL JOURNAL - "The Knob" - A Place Where Silence Speaks, Humbling The Soul

A PLACE WHERE SILENCE SPEAKS AND HUMBLES THE SOUL

By Bob Weaver 2025

"The Knob" is a quiet green and wooded place overlooking the long-gone Village of Hur, a short walk from my house. It has been a sittin' place since my dad dug and grubbed the pine trees from the field in the 1940s, making it a meadow, the high place topped with pines.

Out on the Husk we found inspiration underneath a Persimmon Tree, among places where silence speaks.

In a world that is assaulted by constant noise, perhaps the sounds of silence is the highest attribute of life in the Calhoun backwoods.

During the years since clearing the field, there have been stumps and chairs on the the knob to sit, relax and appreciate the long-gone village, sky and forest in which we have our being, a sittin' place for at least four generations.

In childhood days I would walk to the Knob to enjoy the clouds and setting sun to the west and listen for the quiet noise of cars driving through Hur's four-way intersection and sometimes, miles away, cars on Mt. Zion Ridge.

From the spot I could hear the B&O railroad whistle coming into Spencer, Spencer State Hospital's steam foghorn blowing three times a day for shift changes, the fire siren for the Spencer-Roane VFD and fireworks at Spencer and the Mt. Zion Drive-in Movie.

It has been a place were we rode sleds in the winter and built snowmen, and kids ran full steam up the slope to tumble back down the grassy field.

The Knob was a spiritual place where my dad spent hours praying for my recovery from alcoholism, a place I now use to pray for my family, neighbors and people around the world - and utterances for all living things.

In this small space, much about life was revealed and cherished, right here in this great woods, close to home.