Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Hoot Hoot



Blogger reads: Draft autosaved at 12:12 AM. I sit on the living room floor, wedged between couch and coffee table listening to iTunes, the house and atmosphere finally cooling from yet another sizzling July day. I am reminded that I should get my behind in bed. But I want to check facebook, look at blogs one more time, maybe write something on my own.

I am an entirely nocturnal being, a night owl, if you will. My circadian rhythms sound like jazz. I peak in the late evening. The evening chronotype. And I've been this way since childhood.

It kills me during the school year. The students and I spend first period together pretending we're somewhere just shy of comatose. But in the summer my offbeat schedule works for me. There are some things I simply love about a late summer night. Most relate to the quiet the night offers...

Stars hanging in the dark sky above me.
                          The crickets' screaming legs.
          Lamplight-cast shadows.
            Nothing but the sound of an oscillating fan.
  Books you can't put down.
                         Long and winding conversations.
Meteor showers.
        Thunderstorms that strike into the middle of the night.
Trains shifting and clanking 
     in the gully near my childhood home.
The moon tracing its silver fingers over passing clouds.
             The occasional car's humming doppler effect 
                                                                                                as it passes.

All things calm come in the night.  Walt Whitman, good old Walt, celebrates the mood of night much better than I ever could:

A Clear Midnight

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson
done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the
themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.


What time of day suits you best? What do you love so much about it?

11 comments:

deb@virginia blue said...

I tend to be a bit of a night owl myself.

Absolutely loved this post... you're extremely lyrically gifted!

Miss Melissa Bee said...

I too am of the night owl clan. I feel like myself in the cool quiet of dark; the stillness a balm for the day. I do my very best work at night too. If only we chould get them to start school at ten. :)

Jen said...

I love this post, too. I was a morning person before I married a night owl.

I love the early morning after I have had enough sleep. Such are rare and precious. I feel a stillness and an energy at the same time, both of which fill my cup with joy.

Rie Pie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rie Pie said...

Can I just say, this is an amazing post. Great poem too.

I think we both know that if I could remove the sun and keep the night sky 24/7, I would.

I also love this poem by good ole WW. It's one of my favorites. I think that this poem is the perfect example of how our soul accepts the eternal perspective of life at night. Everything is raw. Nothing is there but your and your thoughts. Beautiful.

Rie Pie said...

Dude, the deleted comment was mine because of a typo. Now there's one in the new comment. UGH.

Justine said...

i don't know how I stumbled upon your blog, but I have grown to love it. I just saw this last one and got really excited. I just wrote one about the weight that night carries for me... neat.
Thanks for the wonderful stories you tell.
xxx
Justine

Heidi said...

I use to be a night owl but lately I have changed into a morning person. I did enjoy the things you listed that calm you at night. I miss the trains at night. I didn't realize it until my last visit to Utah.

Cynthia said...

I found your blog via the MMB- hope it's okay to comment? Anyway, this post resonated with me. I keep TRYING to break my own nightowl tendencies but not with much success. And now it's summer and my kids (except the one who is like her Dad) are doing the same thing. It's going to be REALLY hard to get their rythms adjusted for the school year.

It's just so cool, calm, quiet and peaceful at night. I really can't get that any other time of day. Sigh.

* said...

I'm a total and unabashed night owl. doesn't help that my husband now works a night shift.

I'm glad MMB did their blog spotlight thingy because it put your blog on my radar...for good.

PS: Just read your profile...I love My Antonia, too. Almost named my first daughter Antonia after the book, but then fretted that no one would say the name right (silly me).

And The Giving Tree is one of my all time faves, too. Wanna share a Kleenex? :)

Anonymous said...

Me too sis, me too! Todd and I are on opposite schedules and that poses a big problem.