Thursday, November 22, 2018

Night Driving.


 This evening I was driving home late from work. It was after nine and the roads were empty. I saw the most beautiful scene, the moon was shining so brightly off the fresh, new fallen snow. It was so bright that I didn't need to use the highbeams on my headlights, you could see everything, everywhere. I often heard the description of a silver glow to the snow on such nights like this, that description would fit perfectly tonight. It was post card beautiful, all the sleepy towns settling down for the night, the homes, churches, barns, trees and log fences trimmed with white snow and icicles. I could see deer scattered throughout the night fields, pawing up something to eat. Only the brightest stars could be seen in the crystal clear sky. It was beautiful and there was no way to capture it with a camera or phone that would do it justice, I did the best thing that I could do, I enjoyed the moment. Nature can be so breathtaking.

24 comments:

anne marie in philly said...

and you seem to live in an area where you can actually SEE stars. I have so much ambient light from the city out in the suburbs that it obscures the stars.

JP said...

Sounds gorgeous - sometimes the only way to capture a scene like that is in the mind’s eye.
JP

Deedles said...

Boy, you're on an emotional rollercoaster ride regarding winter! First yesterday's complaint and now today's poetry. Sounds beautiful though. I remember the first time I saw stars clearly. We were camping at Mount Palomar. The kids were sleeping all snuggly in the tent (this was pre-decrepitude when we were able to tent camp). BH and I were just sitting outside in the dark. Balder Half said "Donna, look up." in this voice that kinda of scared me. I learned that night what a blanket of stars actually was! So awe inspiring, through the tree tops. Breathtaking, actually. It's a good thing too, because at that moment a skunk the size of a VW bug decided to amble across our site. He was so cute and we all minded our own business. Wow, that was a memory I hadn't disturbed in years! Thanks, Steven.

Bob said...

It's amazing what you can see when you just look around. We should alltake aminute .....

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Enjoying the moment is the essence of wisdom!

Old Lurker said...

You know what you should do? You should use this as an opportunity to sell your farm and move to the busy, noisy, light-polluted city so that you never see stars or nature again. Yes, that sounds like a completely sensible plan.

Ur-spo said...

Indeed it can; better to remember the moment than to try to capture it on film.

Richard said...

I was out in the New Mexican desert tonight. The full moon made the landscape unbelievably beautiful. I can only imagine how your area is with snow and a full moon.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Anne Marie, yes and I can even see part of our milky way. Sadly light pollution is filling up the southern east part of the sky, some nights I no longer can see stars.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

JP, yes the minds eye was the only true way that night. I first noticed that when I was trying to capture the experience of seeing my first ship, the tiny boat in the photo just wasn't the same. Lol

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Deedles, you are most welcome for the good memory lol. Going forward there is no confusion, I hate winter but I have to find beauty in it to survive through it in one piece.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Bob, you are correct sir! :)

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Debra, are you saying that I'm wise? :D
That just shows what great intelligence you have lol, or you are feeling guilty because all this ice and snow came from out west!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

OL, ugh... Will you give it a rest. Do you want me to stay in a place that makes me unhappy and lonely?

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Dr Spo, I agree with you, my memory will enhance the picture for future reference.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Richard, I'm sending you some snow right now! Lol, you can have it! ;p

Old Lurker said...

If you want me to stop then I'll stop. However, I will note that your stated reasons for leaving the country are negative ones. You think you won't find a boyfriend in the country, and you feel obligated to sell the farm(s) to pay for your mom's care.

I do not sense anything that you are looking forward to in the city. Meanwhile you have friends and a support network in the country. People invite you over for bonfires, and they drop in to visit when you are looking at dirty pictures. When you move to the city you will have to redevelop that network (if you even can -- a whole lot of us find city life anonymous and isolating in itself). A lot of people feel lonely in the crowd. I also get the definitive sense that you enjoy country life. You like having bunnies and chickens and other farm animals. Given that you work in the city you already have lots of access to its amenities, but thus far you have chosen to live in the country.

You also say you want to move to a small town, but I do not see how that solves the dating issue at all. Is the concentration of gay men going to be dramatically higher in a small town than what you have access to now?

So yes, I can shut up. Honestly it does not matter that much to me where you live. But it does make me feel sad that you are seeing the grass as being much greener if you move away.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

OL, sorry for scolding you but sometimes you don't listen, now I got your attention! I never said that I thought the grass was greener, I play out all the same arguments in my head. However the upkeep is getting ahead of me, I am not just in the country, it's very remote here and isolated, it overwhelming me, I spend three hours a day commuting, that's like a second job plus I am firmly on my way to being an old fart like you. As for this comment, I wish you would really say what you were thinking and stop with these two or three word sentences. ;p

Old Lurker said...

I am unloading because I am committing to shutting up about this in future threads.

It boils down to this: do I want you to stay in a place that makes you unhappy and lonely? No. I do not. You are a fantastic human being who deserves to have a happy life. That is why I do not think your problems will be solved by moving, especially since you work in the city now! You might be remote, but you don't live in a fly-in community.

If you had a boyfriend where you lived then would you still want to move? What if you had a boyfriend and could pay for your mom's care in some other way? What is it about city (or "small town") life that you are actively looking forward to?

I could be completely wrong. You know yourself better than I do. You know as well as I do that there are tonnes of kids who grow up in the country and cannot wait to get out. Are you one of them? It does not sound like it to me.

There are also lots of people who have country life deep in their bones. Sometimes they work off the farm or move off the farm because they have no other alternative, but they never feel as connected or as happy in an urban setting as they would in a rural area. Are you in this camp? Or are you just one of those who does not care either way? It sounds as if you are more of a country-life person.

Two more points: firstly, you and I both read enough blogs to know that there are PLENTY of (handsome, smart, employed) guys who live in cities and are just as single and just as lonely as you are. So simply moving out of the country is not in itself sufficient to get you a boyfriend. When you move away, what has to change? Why can't those things be changing now? Is it just the commute and the farm chores, or is there something else holding you back?

Finally: you know what housing prices are like. I will acknowledge the pressures you feel to get off the farm, but I hope you will acknowledge what a huge asset owning land is. Time and time again, you write as if owning your own home in the country is an impediment to finding a long-term boyfriend. Do you acknowledge that there are a TONNE of guys who would see that as an asset? So many guys dream of living in the country "one day". You currently have the means to make that happen. That is an asset, not a liability. I acknowledge that many city people who THINK they want to live in the country are not prepared for what that life means. I still claim that there are plenty of men who would be thrilled to share a life with you on a farm or in a rural area. Honestly, I think you should talk to a counsellor about this.

There. I have said what I have needed to say. Now I will let it go, unless you give me explicit instructions to do otherwise (which you probably shouldn't). I expect I will be biting my tongue pretty hard, though.

Deedles said...

Get a room you two!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

All I know is that I have been upset this evening because I was a big moody baby and hurt my friend old lurker just because he made a funny comment on my blog and I became snotty with him. I hope he can forgive me. :(

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Deedles I'm sending you a referee shirt!

Old Lurker said...

I'm the one who vomits giant comments in your blog and you're the one who wants to apologise? Good grief. You are such a Canadian.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Old Lurker, oh sorry about that.