After dark

"While everyone's asleep, I claim that time for me, and it's too dark to be mowin' that lawn" Trout Fishing in America

This is how I felt last night. I finally got Jake to bed. He is a little night owl. I finished folding his laundry. I did the dishes and picked up the house. Got all the beasties fed and decided to take some time for me.

Had a long hot shower, put on comfy pj's and grabbed a blanket to take outside. I thought about sitting on the porch but I wanted to see the stars. I spread the blanket out and lay down to look at the night sky. The breeze was steady so I fanned my hair out to dry. I brought some tunes but thought I would listen to night noises first.

It was a matter of minutes before I saw the shooting star. It moved slowly and left a long bright tail across the sky above me. I have to say that when I walk in the evenings, I usually am pretty lucky and see at least one shooting star a week. I wondered if this was a remnant of the meteor shower we were supposed to have had that morning.

As the wind moved through the trees, I saw brighter stars peeking through the branches of the crape myrtle tree. Feeling to lazy to move my whole body, I stretched my neck to see if they were a part of a larger constellation.

The horses were in the pasture close by. I could not see them but I heard the ripping of the grass as they ate. The occasional snort as they moved around each other. It was peaceful, soothing...I wondered what would happen if I just fell asleep out here on my fuzzy blanket. Would ants crawl over me and wake me in a stinging frenzy? Would deer sniff me wondering what was in the way of their midnight snack? I left the dogs inside for my own sanity. Daisy's high pitched bark is enough to disturb the peace of a deaf opossum 2 blocks away. Gatsby simply likes to chase and destroy if I am about to prove he is useful. There would be no dogs to chase away any curious wildlife that came to investigate.

I noticed my hair drying in soft waves. I thought about how good laundry smells after being dried on the line. I wondered if the night breeze would give me and my pj's a fresh outside smell. I stretched my arms high above my head and took in the night air. The ear buds went in and I listened to tunes softly so I could still hear the tree frogs and crickets.

This was better than meditation. Actually, it was a sort of meditation except that my mind was not empty of thought. Thoughts were racing through my brain, skipping like stones over the water, from subject to subject. I let it go for a bit then quieted my internal conversation down to concentrate on my body. I noticed how sore I was from my workout that day, noticed I had no more pain from Dewey running me over months ago, noticed the stress holder behind my shoulder blade needed a release. STRETCH, legs, feet, arms, back, abs.....

It was getting late. Time for bed. No computer, no tv, just bed.