Night Sounds

The clouds are painted pink, the sky streaks with red and gold, as darkness falls like a blanket over the earth.  The creatures of the day retreat and night creatures stretch to wakefulness with moon and stars their only light, unless reluctant to sleep humankind pierces the dark with incandescence and halogen.

The sound of night can be soothing to us.  The call of frogs in trees and ponds call to each other in the night.  The song of crickets become part of our lullaby, punctuated with the hoot of an owl.

Owls fly silently looking for their meals.   Skunks and possums move silently through our neighborhoods.  Mice scurry in fields, and sometimes our homes.  Bats fly devouring mosquitoes. Moths fly about their business.  Raccoons forage, build their homes, and raise their babies.  Rabbits and foxes and coyotes are also on the move.

While we are dreaming in slumber, the world comes alive with creatures.  If we are awake, we may hear the sound of these creatures normally hidden from our sight.

In the predawn hours, birds of all kinds start their day.  The sound starts genteelly and raises to a crescendo.  Normally, these sounds to do not wake us, but when we are disturbed we don’t understand how we ever thought that nature was a place of quiet peace. Eventually, we arise for another day, and the night creatures go to bed.  We swap dominion of the earth for half a rotation of the earth.