A windless morning, clear and crisp, our tent is still in the grasp of silence. Nothing is moving until I turn in my sleeping bag, and as it slips against the pad, compressing the snow in a cacophony, it breaks the noiseless void of an early winter morning.
In winter silence you can hear the gentle sound of snow falling, you can hear the footfalls of mice and the sighing of snow as it settles with cold.
As we break camp our movements have broken the spell of silence and a wind has started to sway with the firs.
crossing our path
a nocturnal hunter —
wolverine tracks
Today we ponder silence with Frank in Haibun Monday at dVerse. I went back to my photos from my long treck. During the early part of our journey we could experience silence, before some of the noisier birds started to make sounds (for instance the grouses in April).
April 27, 2026
Björn Rudbergs writings 
“In winter silence you can hear . . . .” What a mysteriously beautiful paradox!
The small sounds just grows.
I can almost smell the cold winter , just by reading this .
You experienced a special kind of silence in the snow, Björn, especially when snow was falling, and the footfall of mice and wolverine tracks all contribute to an amazing experience. If I didn’t have snow phobia, I’d be envious. I love the photo!
It was in the beginning back in early March. Later it was so much warmer and noisy
But nice noisy…
“In winter silence you can hear the gentle sound of snow falling, “
this is poetry in its real sense
much love
There is nothing quite as silent than deep winter
“In winter silence you can hear the gentle sound of snow falling, you can hear the footfalls of mice and the sighing of snow…” sigh…that is beautiful “silence.” Great photo. I think snow is so pretty, but I don’t love the cold. Brr!
It is not that bad when it’s just -10 C or so. Fortunaly we did not experience real cold…or with strong winds
The silence of snow really does feel crystallised – I like how you describe your experience of silence – Jae
Yes indeed sounds seems to be frozen
Brrr. Feels cold, looks cold. lol Well done Bjorn.
It was never that cold really
“The sighing of snow” is one of the best descriptions I’ve read of how snowfall sounds. Sometimes we get those hard snow pellets and they sound like rain hitting the window. What an adventure to camp in the winter!!
Also when temperature changes a thick layer of snow might actually sigh as it settles…
Oh, how interesting. I didn’t know. ❄️
A beautiful silence…a reward for hardy hikers!
This is a beautiful and vivid descriptive haibun.
Very beautiful. I love camping and envy you sleeping in the silence of snow and the “footfall of mice”Though I can hear plenty footfalls of mice in my home…😂
different kind of mice
They certainly are. Our mice wear boots. Whoever said mice were quiet is lying.
“In winter silence you can hear the gentle sound of snow falling, you can hear the footfalls of mice and the sighing of snow as it settles with cold.”
This is so beautiful, Bjorn. I feel like I am hearing the silence itself.
Great haibun, Bjorn! You are brave to camp in the snow.
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Splendid.
footfalls of mice, sighing of snow, a poetic of silence beautifully laid out in haibun.