When is the last time that y'all were surrounded by an absolute absence of man-made light and sound?
Last night, Peepaw, Bonnie, and I went on a little adventure. We grabbed a flashlight and headed toward the cemetery. It was around 9 p.m. and it was pitch black outside. The only illumination was from Helen and Ernie's garage doors where they have some decorative lights. The moon was a teeny little sliver but the night was clear and we could see most of the stars.
We headed through a pasture across from us and stopped once in a while because Bonnie would look back behind us as though she heard something in the woods. It was kinda scary but fun. I had to use the flashlight to guide my way most of the time because I didn't want to step wrong and twist my ankle. I had it on at one point when a truck was going down the road and around the curve in front of our house. We noticed that they slowed way down because I think they saw my light and probably wondered what kind of hooligans were walking up to the cemetery at that time of the night. Thankfully, they just went on and we proceeded to climb the hill. Once we reached the cemetery, we found a clearing and sat down, with Bonnie acting as the sentry as she parked herself right in front of us and guarded us. It was so beautiful, y'all. As our eyes got accustomed to the dark, we could see the headstones and the shadows of trees and rocks. We laid back on the grass and looked up at the sky, hoping to see a shooting star. We had learned from a friend that when you see what looks like a plane in the sky but it's got no blinking lights, it is probably a satellite or a space shuttle (we saw neither). We were looking for the different constellations and could see a few but there were enough little wispy white clouds to partially cover a lot of the stars. We decided we might try to get a telescope one day. I took an astonomy class in high school and actually did very well because I found it so interesting. We had a planetarium at Forest Park and the highlight of my day, as a junior, was going to that class.
After I got off work yesterday afternoon, Peeps and I drove to Gate City as they were having a "holiday open house" at a few of the businesses. We strolled through a couple of antique shops but didn't find anything but it was fun to look. Then we ate a late lunch at the Hob Nob and came on back home and relaxed. Today was a cool, cloudy day and perfect for a little afternoon nap. We each picked a couch to lay on and got settled in to sleep but after about 15 minutes, Bonnie and Purrl decided to start playing chase, so that was short-lived. It was just enough to refresh us, though.
At this time of the year, we are keenly aware of the distance between us and all of you. But you are always, always in our hearts and we will focus on how much we love you and we will be so happy when we're together again.
I love you,
Mom
