The Stillness Of Night

I love night time. I always have. I love many different times of the day too. I think it all depends on the light. I love early mornings right before the sunrises. I think that term is odd as the sun isn’t really rising at all, the earth is rotating! I guess it would be odder to call it ‘earth rotation’ and somehow denote the time of day either morning rotation or evening rotation. When we arrive at work we should wish our co-workers a ‘good morning earth rotation’? I think not. That’s absurd.

I also like dusk. When the sun sets, er…rotates into the night time phase. I like the silhouettes of the trees against the sky. I like to watch the light of the planets and the moon appear as the light of day fades. I especially like Venus low on the horizon sparkling in the sky. It has been brighter recently with the moon below it. It’s weird to think that it’s just floating there in space. Well, not actually floating. I know that it is moving around the sun at quite a speed, like we are on earth. Nothing is outer space is stationary.

The night sky is very special to me. When I lived in Toledo, in the summer time, I liked to ride my bike around my part of town. I loved the warmth of the night air. The humidity felt gorgeous, like a warm blanket wrapped around me. There was a railroad crossing out in the country that I would drive out to and just hang out for a while all by myself. It was tucked away from the city lights and I could see more stars in the sky. When the moon was full, it would light the area softly and I thought those moments were majestically awesome.

It seemed like sound would travel better during the night when I was out there. The sounds were distant and the cars and trucks on the highway would sound like a low hum. It was comforting. The planes that flew high in the night sky would just blink and I would only hear them if they were close. I might have mentioned in an earlier article about my adventures to a college town called Bowling Green.

I would drive down there on a warm summer night and walk out to the football stadium. It wasn’t huge, but it was pretty big. I can’t believe that it was always open to walk into. Standing in the middle of the football field was pretty cool as there were no lights. The town lights were somewhat blocked because the stands were high and I could view the night sky. I would climb up to the highest part of the stadium and look over to the highway which was about a two hundred yards away. All those cars and trucks moving north or south. Where were they all traveling to? They had no clue that I was watching them.

Golf courses at night are cool to roam. Quite hazardous too! If you can’t see where you are going, you will fall into a sand trap (hazard in golf terminology) that are scattered throughout the course. Heaven forbid that I never fell into the water hazards. It was especially cool to walk around a golf course in a light fog. It had an eeriness to it. Sometimes I would hear a golf cart roaming around and I would hide from the golf course superintendent. If he ever caught me I would be in trouble. I would never think of vandalism, I just liked roaming by myself, or a couple of close friends, through the course.

Here in Brisbane I love looking out my bedroom window toward the city lights. I can see the tall buildings with their lights on, sparkling in the distance. Every skyscraper has a blinking red light on top. Some buildings have blue lights up and down their sides. When I’m downtown I love how the Story Bridge, a centerpiece of Brisbane at night, reflects it lights off the river below. I watch all the ferry’s traveling up and down the river. It’s like they are floating on a black reflective oil.

You can usually find me down at the bay at night when I have the next day off. The bay has moods depending on the weather and what phase the moon is in. On a dark night I can see across the bay to several of the islands that have lights scattered throughout them. The boats that are out at night have their red and blue lights blinking, and the lights will reflect off the bay waters.

If the moon is waxing and rising over the bay, it is big and orange hanging low in the sky. I brought my family down to see it a long time ago. We all enjoyed it. The moon reflects off the bay in a straight line to the shore to where I am standing. When I walk along the bay during the full moon it really seems like it is following me along. The bay at night can be slightly crowded or almost completely empty. I like to eavesdrop on peoples conversations if they are close by.

Along the bay there is a beach that we have taken our dog to that has a deck at one end for fishermen to cast their lines out. During a full moon I will see a few fishermen on this deck sitting on their fold out chairs. I don’t know what kind of fish they are trying to catch and I think they don’t know themselves until they catch one. I couldn’t be on a boat in an open sea at night time. It’s too spooky. When I lived in Puerto Rico, we would take a night ride on a sailboat to one of the nearby islands. That freaked me out. The sea was so black and I could not fathom how deep it was and what was swimming underneath the boat. Yeeesh! I’m a land lubber!!

When I was a young teenager I slept over at a friends house. We actually slept in the garage with the door open. In the middle of the night we went roaming around the neighborhood. It was a yucky feeling for me. There was no one around. Even on the busy street there were no cars driving on it. All the houses we dark. My body yearned for sleep but me friends were all about exploring the streets. Maybe that experience is the reason why I don’t like camping and prefer the comforts of my bed. I think that was the only time I didn’t like being out at night.

Walking through the neighborhood before bedtime is pretty cool, because people are still awake and the warm lights through the doors and windows as I walk by are quite nice. Sometimes their voices carry out into the street. Either that or they have their TV’s on quite loud. I often think that those people should turn off their TV’s and come out for a walk. But some routines are hard to give up. Everyone is in their own comfort zones, oblivious of me walking by their house.

I went out to the bay this evening and the wind was blustery. It rained a little bit too. Right now I am propped up in my bed gazing out my windows and listening to a rain shower. Now this is a comforting feeling. The clouds are lit by the city lights. A new apartment building across the river, recently built, has a few scattered lights on. I guess people have started moving in. I wonder what their views are of the city so high up in their apartments. I would bet that it’s pretty awesome. I couldn’t live up so high. I wouldn’t cope with going out onto the deck and looking down, especially at night!

The night time offers a different way of perceiving my surroundings. Of course distances are deceiving. My awareness is heightened when driving at night. I will only drive at night in certain circumstances. I prefer not too. I haven’t ridden my bike at night in a long time. I must do this, even if it is just around the neighborhood. I have lights for my bike and maybe I will do that instead of driving to the bay next time. I just have to look out for any low flying fruit bats. Ugh!

Oh, the rain has stopped. The houses I see out my window have gone dark. Tomorrow is Monday and everyone is sleeping before waking and beginning their new work week. Me, I have the day off tomorrow. Nice. I’ve had a mild flu the past couple of days and am feeling like myself now. Maybe the walk down by the bay helped. I hope that you have a good night. It’s time to tune into one of my favorite podcasts and drift off to sleep.

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The above was written over a month ago. I’ve rearranged my bedroom and am now sitting in my comfortable chair looking out my window toward the houses across the way. I can see my wonderful planet Venus shinning brightly in the sky to the northwest. I am in my safe place. I am currently listening to Joe Jackson’s music from the soundtrack to ‘Mike’s Murder.’ It is so groovy. It’s great to write along to. I’ve written other articles regarding my love of nighttime previously. It’s one of my favorite topics. It’s been said to write about the things one loves, so… goodnight where ever you are. I hope you enjoy your evening. Cheers!