Dusk

Hot Summer Night, Day 22

One of my favorite childhood memories is staying outside late on a summer night, listening to the locusts whine, predicting where the next lightning bug would emit its glow, and watching the stars come out one by one. A special privilege was being allowed to play outside in our pajamas!

I still enjoy spending hot evenings outside, but instead of running around the yard, I sit in my lawn swing and watch the sky turn dark. We don't have locusts or lightning bugs in central Utah, but we do have crickets.

Gradually, the 4-wheelers quit racing up and down the road (my street is a mountain access road,) the neighborhood kids head inside for bed, and the peacock stands as a sentinel, cawing loudly whenever a car enters his turf.

On night 22, Computer Geek and I welcomed the darkness as we sat on the swing and discussed the day's events. We got misted by the sprinklers in the back yard, but it felt pleasant. We could hear Weston and his friends a block over, playing Fugitive, a night-time game where the players try to avoid being spotlighted by the headlights of the searcher's car. And of course I had to take a photo, but of nothing, really. I just aimed into the dark and clicked.

 Star light, star bright.

First star I see tonight.

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight.