Into the Night

I take two steps, snorting from a deer, and the yard is crunched sound running, but I can visualize with my ears. Two sounds coming from the dark yard, that's all, but I know it was deer pruning all my planted fruit trees.

The night accepts their exit. The night accepts my entrance

After reloading the wood boiler, I close the stove door latch too loud and the dog neighbor over a quarter mile away starts to bark, and sets off all the dogs in ear shot. Another “sound only” emitted from the blackness but this one is in canine stereo.

I spend my nighttimes listening. It's a sort of a dumbing down, but very intentional. I'm well suited for this activity. During the daylight I seldom hear my own footfalls. Tonight my boots striding are a noise and loud. But the rings of sound emitted move through the night unimpeded.

The nighttime is a cloak you can put on, enter into, be totally consumed by and when you’ve had enough, hit the flashlight beam and go back in the house. Abra-cadabra the lights are on and the darkness pushed back, just as the bright sun chases the night around the globe evening after evening.

The stars tonight, brightness appear the same. All that light up in the heavens and so quiet. You’d think with all that twinkling, blinking, glowing and falling out of the night sky on occasion, my ears would catch a noisy star once in awhile but none so far to date. I’ll keep listening.

In mid to late October, right up until the first week of November, I’m leaving the yard to get to my duck hunting hot spots. Four A.M. some mornings the northern lights are all the yard light I need. Green sweeping electric lava lamp completely pulsing through the north half of the otherwise dark horizon, always stops me in my tracks. When I turn my trucks headlights on it's the absolute wrong thing to do.

Darkness is dark. It's always an arms length away. I like that it visits my yard every night. I watch it grow into my woods and just like a blanket at bedtime it covers me completely. Come on over to my home some night. My log place is the one with the solar powered night lights. Just watch your step, its dark outside.