Night

I eased out the door onto the front porch of this log house tonight, instantly surrounded by an intense cacophony of insect sounds reverberating through the canyon. Some bugs sang "chick-a-gum, chick-a-gum," others repeated "widget, widget, widget." It filled up my senses.

Fireflies sparked in the shadows, and I almost expected to see the sleek form of a mountain lion floating across the lawn, or to hear a bumbling black bear breaking branches in the brush. But nothing added to the background noises.

Last week a strange vocalization caught my attention. My sister and her dh also heard it early this morning. A seeking, searching loud and persistent domestic cat type of "maow" with a quivering suffix of "wub-wub-wub-wub." Never have I heard such a thing and I can't identify it on the Internet, unless it might have been an elusive Lynx. That would be a thrill!!!

A cool breeze riffled through the leaves, caressing my face. I rocked and gazed at a sky sprinkled with twinkling lights. One "stoplight star" directly in front of me blinked red/green/red/green. Minute by minute, the yellow thumbnail moon edged toward the heavily wooded ridge.

Numbness began to set in as I relaxed, I could have stayed outside for hours. Unfortunately, the children have to rise early for school and I'm part of the wake-up committee. Hoping for another night, another breeze, another moon...