Sometime early this morning it rained. I was in that hazy time between asleep and awake when I heard the drops. I went back to sleep. It was misty when I woke up, but the rain has since stopped. It is a dreary day. The humidity is high. The morning is dark. It is cloudy. Intermittent rain is predicted. Right now it is 79°.

I took my time this morning. I had no incentive. Even the dogs are quiet. I finished all the puzzles in the paper. That may be my only accomplishment today.

Summer days when I was a kid seemed endless. The light stretched into the night hours. We could go out and play after supper. We just had to stay around the neighborhood, within shouting range. Sometimes we played games in the street like Red Light-Green Light, Simon Says and Red Rover. In Red Rover the strong were early picks. Little kids were tail-end picks.

I remember the street light being a sort of alarm clock. It was time to go inside. The living room lights in all the houses were the first to be lit. They were the front lights behind the picture windows. I always took comfort from those lights shining through.

I was never afraid at night. Even when I was older and walking home in the dark I never worried. Street lights shined on the roads. House lights shined on the sidewalks. Usually I was alone walking home from drill. I wore sneakers so my footsteps were muted. It was quiet. Back then few cars were out at night on the little roads. The loudest sounds were the night insects, the katydids and the crickets. They sang in harmony.

Of late I have become nocturnal. I usually don’t go to bed until after 2. Some nights I go outside with the dogs. They run into the yard, and I stand on the deck. I always feel a little like Ozymandias before the break. My neighborhood has no street lights. A few outside porch lights are lit. I can hear the insects and the frogs singing far different songs. I sometimes see a car, but I never see any other people. I always feel I own the night.

This entry was posted on July 15, 2025 at 11:56 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.