Would you just sit still?

Solitude: A good place to visit but a poor place to stay -- Josh Billings

My little brother made me a fan of peace and quiet. He's no longer little, but he's still loud.

After thirty years of living apart from him, I still love a little solitude.

A quiet hotel room. An early morning run in a place where nobody knows me. No television. Nobody to suggest we go somewhere. No housekeeping tasks waiting.

Luxury.

My friend John says that most people who love a dinner party or an action-packed girl trip or a roomful of noisy teen-agers are truly introverts. Introverts, by his definition, are those who refuel by being alone.

Okay. Then I am one of them there introverts.

Sudoku, books, prayer, silence, tea, coffee. What a great way to refuel.

Of course I wouldn't want to live in the house of solitude, hoarding papers and bits of broken machinery and antique memorabilia like Homer and Langley - as fascinating as they are. (Read the book, you'll see.) That's a different kind of solitude -- based on fear and anxiety and mental illness.

But life is often full of blaring music,

beeping oven timers,

frantic car rides,

misunderstood communication,

tearful phone calls,

tough choices,

midnight worries

and migraine headaches.

Know the feeling?

Pour yourself some solitude. Just like the slogan on the Holiday Inn Express key card, you'll find yourself saying ..... Ahhh.

Peace and quiet at the Gholson house? Not so much ... but that's a good thing!