Up above the city, spikes on ice, reveling in silent communion, two friends (my pal Phoebe and me) happy to be out of the thick of it and into the pines & blue sky, scent of cedar and snow. There were minutes we listened, not a bird, not a breeze, not a single sound. Then juncos, crows, jays, towhees, and chickadees. Humans and their canine companions. And that view!