"Night, when words fade and things come alive."
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"To me at least was never evening yet but seemed far beautifuller than its day."
~Robert Browning
As I write, I am appreciating the nighttime serenade of the crickets outside my window. How I love that sound! They sure have a lot to say. I am realizing that there is something comforting in this wonderful nighttime symphony—one cannot feel alone when the air is filled with the sounds of nature all around.
One of my favorite nighttime sounds is a chorus of cicadas on a hot summer night in Connecticut. Or spring peepers raising their voices in harmony in the marsh. Or the haunting cry of loons on the lake at the cabin in the Adirondacks...or the hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoooo of a barred owl that one can hear while sleeping in the lean-to. Not to mention the comforting sound of a crackling fire kept burning throughout the night to keep the four-legged creatures with claws and sharp teeth away. :-)
I love the magic we feel on a summer night, when it's warm enough to enjoy being outside well after the sun goes down, and yet there is a sense of mystery in the darkness of the night sky. We enjoy outdoor concerts, theater in the park, county fairs, and fireworks displays. Or we might simply sit on the porch and watch fireflies light up the night with their mating dance. Or we may sit and enjoy another kind of light show, like the mid-August Perseid meteor showers. Did you catch the display this past weekend? I happened to be in a wonderful viewing area in the woods in northern California on Saturday night/Sunday morning and caught sight of some "shooting stars." It's a pretty awesome sight; it takes your breath away.
I love the magic we feel on a summer night, when it's warm enough to enjoy being outside well after the sun goes down, and yet there is a sense of mystery in the darkness of the night sky. We enjoy outdoor concerts, theater in the park, county fairs, and fireworks displays. Or we might simply sit on the porch and watch fireflies light up the night with their mating dance. Or we may sit and enjoy another kind of light show, like the mid-August Perseid meteor showers. Did you catch the display this past weekend? I happened to be in a wonderful viewing area in the woods in northern California on Saturday night/Sunday morning and caught sight of some "shooting stars." It's a pretty awesome sight; it takes your breath away.
I am grateful for the magic and wonder of summer nights. At night when we are quiet and still, we can see and hear more clearly and sense more deeply our connection to nature, our connection to all things great and small—to the two-leggeds, the four-leggeds, the creatures that walk the earth and grace our skies—and to the great universe beyond. We are invited to ponder the great mysteries of life, and are perhaps comforted to feel an essential part of it all. Blessed be.
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