Our best man, Rob, is visiting for a few days this long holiday weekend and it has been one full of reminiscing. Yesterday we went hiking at Giant City State Park and he became overwhelmed with the silence of the forest. He commented on how weird his ears felt with the absence of city noise. Even with the sounds of birds and locusts, the silence was deafening to him. He is used to honking horns and jets overhead. It has been too long since Rob walked in the southern Illinois forests amidst sandstone bluffs. It reminded me of a time about 25 years ago when Rob took us hiking in…