I took this picture at 5:59, when the sun officially rose. I’d already taken a long walk in the dark earlier in the morning.
“What is up the hill in those trees?” I drove by and had the undeniable urge to go find out. I also found at least a dozen spider webs, each of them criss-crossing my intended path. There were at least a thousand birds up there, including a boisterous crow who wanted to know who I thought I was to invade his territory.
I took my cat Güino outside on the landing this morning to listen to the orchestra of birds. When I turned back toward the door, I realized he was shadow boxing with the glint created by my glasses.
I like this picture because he looks real in the shadows created by the cascading light.
A woman knelt on the sidewalk near the corner. She was talking to her small son while her slightly older daughter stood nearby. Their bikes were next to them. The mom pointed at the flashing ambulance as it turned into the hospital drive.
She explained to him what an ambulance is in the simplest words possible.
“Someone is sick,” the daughter said, jumping into the explanation.
“Someone is driving the sick person?” The young boy looked at his sister.
Mom stepped in before the daughter said something clever. “Yes. And there are people riding in the back helping the sick person until they get to the hospital.”
(I was waiting for the little girl to say something precocious, such as, “No, he gets a discount if he does the driving.)
The boy repeated the word “ambulance,” but it came out sounding only slightly recognizable.
I stood a few feet away, waiting to cross. The mom smiled at me. “I like to explain things to them. You never know what sticks.”
I smiled. “Do you know why old ambulances used to be long and odd-shaped?”
“No, I don’t,” the mom said.
“Because the first ambulances were driven by funeral homes. Up to 50% of them.”
I wish you could have seen the mom’s eyes widen. “Really? Is that true?”
“Yes, it is. That’s wild, isn’t it?”
“Now I’m going to have to go home and look all this up. How did I not know that?”
“Because of Bridgerton.” (A popular TV show popped into my head, so of course, I said it.)
“On Netflix? I love that show!”
She didn’t get the implication of my comment. I laughed and said, “See y’all later,” to them all.
Given the way she took the time to explain things to her kids, I’m convinced that she did look it up when she went home. What’s certain is that both kids will grow up to be ridiculously smart.
One of those thought experiments that fascinates me is the movie one. IF your life were a movie being watched by an audience, what would they be screaming at you?
Chances are, for most of you, something immediately came to mind. And whatever that is? That should be your focus of change.
The lights were gorgeous this morning.
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PS…
I could hear shouts as I cut through the pylons that blocked the side street that once connected traffic coming off of Leverett.
As I approached, I could see two people standing on their tiny outcropping balcony in the dark.
The young guy was angry and said some things that shouldn’t be said. He stormed back inside and shut the door to the balcony.
As I passed, the young woman looked down and saw me. “I’m sorry about that,” she said.
“It’s been a rough night?” It popped out of my mouth before I thought about it. It’s a common predicament for me.
“Yes.”
“It’s obvious I’m old. If you don’t want to be standing on this balcony again in a year, you’re going to have to leave him.”
“I know.”
“I hope you get some sleep and have a better Saturday.”
When I reached Garland, I turned to see that she had gone back inside.
We’re having performance reviews at work. I can’t decide between baton twirling or interpretive dance.
…
“Y’allternative” is one of those awesome words like hick-hop because it conveys exactly what you expect.
“Tie-Boned” is a word I came up with to replace “T-boned.” Instead of an accident, it’s a calamity caused by someone wearing a tie and concealing a hidden agenda. A person with dirty hands and ripped work pants can mess you up once. Someone with a tie can rig the entire system with a smile on their face.
I had a beautiful walk this morning in the stillness of the dark. Sounds carried strangely. It was easy to follow the barrel owl as it moved from block to block. I don’t know if it witnessed the strange flyover around 3:45 a.m.
Pareidolia is a fancy word to describe seeing faces or patterns in everyday objects. It’s one of those words no one uses.
This morning, the air was still. Sound carried forever as I walked through secret swatches of darkness. I love knowing all the dark spots where I can see the sky or watch the bats hunt for insects. Where I come through a canopy and a hidden owl shrieks its surprise as I pass under. Sometimes I’m the one surprising the police as they park away from desolate streets or against the dark trees and foliage. I think most of them are accustomed to seeing me now.
I wouldn’t want to describe myself as necessarily normal, but it delights me that I’m the only one out at 2 a.m who’s already slept and taking advantage of the deserted world of the early morning. Everyone else is an outlier and still burning on fumes from the previous day.
The picture is an example of pareidolia. It looks like a face. That picture took 30 seconds of exposure in almost total darkness. I stood and watched the bats flit across the backdrop as I waited for the camera to reveal what was hidden.
There have been times when I dreaded seeing what might be behind the darkness. When the hair on the back of my neck stands up, or I’m certain I’m being watched. At times, adrenaline hits my system. But I stand there regardless. The biggest danger to me is pepperoni.
It was 75° with 20 mph winds early this morning. It felt amazing. Large trees creaked in the wind.
After walking a random labyrinth of city streets, I walked out of fayetteville’s clutter and into open sky.
Traffic was unusually light. Not that there’s much at 3:00 a.m., but I’ve become accustomed to recognizing the patterns.
I can’t explain what gave me the heebiejeebies as I passed the last house on 112/Garland. It was as if something or someone unseen had flickered into my peripheral vision. Goosebumps went up and down my body. It was instantaneous. A feeling of almost dread.
Watching carefully, I used my phone to zoom in, but saw no movement. Walking around to the other side of the empty house, I did the same thing. The tickle along the back of my neck did not lessen. I stood there for a minute and finally walked away without turning my head to take another look.
I love these moments when something unseen triggers my subconscious. The wind blasting through the trees and across me enhanced the feeling.
I walked barefoot for an hour, meandering. Two little chipmunks came out from some fallen trees to say hello. They were camera shy because they hadn’t had time to go to the beauty salon this week. Deep back into the brush and trees, there were some Northern Parulas. (Sounds like a salad topping.) The males were brilliant green and yellow.
It could not have possibly been more beautiful back there. 65°, sunlight breaking through the trees intermittently, and all manner of birds almost entirely hidden -but singing and chirping like 8-year-old girls at their first church recital.
And I can’t write about it without mentioning how brilliant the colors are again for me. Even the 12 different nuances of green.
The creeks are of course colder than an accountant’s heart but the numbness afterward was refreshing.
It was 70° at 1:30 a.m. The wind howled, finding breezeways and crevices to make metal groan and heavy dumpster lids slam over. My weather app claimed that the wind speed was 20 mph, but I’m certain that a few of the gusts were easily twice that speed.
Even though it’s December 28th, the insects accompanied me on my walk. Surreal doesn’t cover it. I can’t be convinced that Christmas was a couple of days ago or that 2026 is just around the corner.
If you did like me and watched clouds race overhead, you would get vertigo. They raced overhead fast enough to create the illusion that I could see the planet spinning.
There were a lot more people out than should have been. I’m sure it was the weather that brought them out or kept them out, even though they would not know that some primal or instinctive drive contributed to their decision to be out.
When I exited the inconvenience store after getting a soda, I laughed as a car of young guys drove up. Each of them had on a shower cap. Not your grandma’s shower caps. These had designs on them. I burst out laughing.
The driver popped out, still smiling.
“Are you laughing at me?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yeah. Surely you realize how unusual you guys look. I think it’s cool, but you can’t blame me for being caught off guard.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “Styling though, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” I agreed.
As I headed back toward my apartment, I couldn’t believe it was still four and a half hours until sunrise, or at that time tomorrow it would be 40 plus degrees cooler.
It was a beautiful walk on a December morning that should have been bitterly cold. I think I’m going to remember this one.
Güino hasn’t been feeling his best the last couple of days.
I knew he was okay when he pawed at the door this morning at 1:00 a.m. I took him out yesterday evening without a leash and let him wander.
Even though I haven’t been feeling my best, I went outside to catch a few of the meteors, which were peaking early this morning. They were beautiful as I stared up between the gaps in the clouds.
By 3:30 a.m., he was registering is dissatisfaction. So I put a leash on him and we went out into the bitter cold so that he could high-step it through the fallen leaves and sniff the bumpers and tires of all the vehicles he wanted to. The wind and sub-20° weather didn’t bother him.
I did notice that he retreated to one of his favorite blankets directly under the heat vent though.
P.S. Parenthetically Speaking 