Night Scene

For weeks now, almost without exception, I go out and water the shrubs at or just after sundown.

And it's been SO miserably hot that even at night, even without the sun, it is still oppressive. It's like the air just stops and your oxygen level goes with it. Absolutely stifling. But last night, it wasn't that way at all.

While it was very hot again yesterday, at dusk it was comfortable. ("Pleasant" would be too strong a word, though I'll admit that when the occasional breeze kicked up, pleasant might apply.) Even as I tugged at the hose, something that is not that dissimilar from trying to unwrap a firehose, the air didn't immediately rush from my lungs the way it usually does.

As I began to water the shrubs, the moon became perfectly aligned with the plastic pan of water I leave out for the creatures. For the next few minutes, I watched the half-moon glimmer and dance in the water. Then, as it rose in the night sky, the moonlight caught the gutters along the house giving them an eerie shimmer.

When hit with the hose, the resulting droplets completely lit up as they connected, bursting against it and then flying away into the darkness of night. It was quite the night scene and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's one I hope to enjoy a bit more this summer.