2:00 AM is a good time

It is 2:00 AM, I walk outside on my deck and hear the ocean. It is roaring loudly and I can hear large waves breaking on the beach. A thought runs through my head that even now as the endless waves assault the beach, as the moon sits high in the sky, as everyone is asleep, there are whales less then half a mile from where I am standing. They are making their way south and even in this time when nobody is keeping track, their cycle of diving and surfacing and spraying the air with mist as they exhale goes on. I wish I could go watch them at night. They do not need me, they are not cognizant of me but it gives me so much comfort to see them. Somehow, seeing them makes me feel like I have a bond with them. But even now, in the dead of night they must keep moving and travel on from this place. They swim out of my thoughts for now but they are never very far.

I hear a friend call me from a short distance away. She is taking care of her family in the forested area on my property. I know if I am patient I will soon see her. I wait and wait but nothing happens. When I am almost ready to give up, she swoops down from behind me and flies out over my yard. In the bright moonlight her silent feathers glow. She is hunting and I watch in awe as she finds what she is looking for. She has made a kill and her family will eat tonight. She is my friend and we often keep each other company at night. She is comfortable hunting here and I am privileged. I call her Hanhepi-Wi, the Lakota word for moon.

Someone is bothering the Canadian Geese on the river bank. They are squawking and flapping their wings. They are most likely chasing away a fox or something in the weasel family. They will calm down soon but it is almost comical to hear them. They sound like a bunch of grumpy old people that got woken up by some rude young whippersnapper. I think they, like me, should visit friends more often and quit being so grouchy.

I take the last drink of my hot tea, I pleasure that I thoroughly enjoy. It is nourishment for my emotions, it is a simple comfort. As I finish my tea I look up into the vast sky, not so dark tonight because the moon was full only two days ago. The night sky is a wonder to be contemplated for all my days on earth. Where I live there is very little light pollution so the view is always spectacular. The star filled wonder above my head has many faces and many moods. Tonight.....well tonight the sky is passive. It regards me not and takes no notice of all that is going on. I could yell out into the night with all my might but the moon, hanging motionless, would not flinch, the stars would not ripple or twinkle. Tonight the sky sleeps, unconcerned with the affairs of tiny mortal creatures or whales for that matter.

It is 2:00 AM and I am grateful.


Otter