TheBanyanTree: night walk

[Julie Anna Teague]

I took my daily walk fairly late the other night. It was nearly dark
when I left.  I lingered a little longer than usual at the small lake
and walked a little slower than usual, trying to drag my time out till
darkness really set in.  I like being outside in the dark and, as an
adult, I don't do it nearly enough, even though I can anytime I want
to. I remember being a very young kid in the summer when my bedtime
would not be adjusted for daylight savings time. Or maybe it was
adjusted and that was the problem. But I remember times when I was sent
to bed while it was still light out, which seemed like a crime for
which my parents should've done some jail time. Small me, lying there,
with the sun not yet set, not a chance of sleep, and vowing that
someday I would stay up on summer evenings until way after dark.  It's
important that I remember to take advantage of this adult freedom when
I can.

Summer nights are so different than the days. The thinner, more
breathable air, and the animals, their close and distant sounds, and
the stars--I love it all. On my late evening walk this week, the geese
were squawking, flying to their night resting places. The bats were
out, flittering and swooping across my path. The small crescent of a
moon glowed orange at the edges where it met the blue-black sky. I
could feel the state of the season more accurately--very late summer
with a hint of fall--than when the sun is pounding and blinding and
washing the color out of everything. I'm going to make a point to be
out more in the nighttime, spend more time looking at the stars, build
more fires, listen for owls.

Julie