Here and Now, Then and There

The silence isn't deafening at all, but it does cause one's attention to be focused away from the small noises. The ambient sounds of a modern day nighttime scene just aren't enough to attract a person's attention.

On nights like this, in the past, when I had no air conditioning to avail myself of, I would walk in the nighttime heat and humidity. The 7-11 was nearby and blissfully air conditioned, and arriving after walking the incompletely silent streets, past the closed stores (greeting the cat allowed to roam free in one of them), was truly like arriving at an oasis.

These days the nearby 24-hour grocery store is air conditioned, but is too close. And the nights don't get hot and humid here; the fog settles in and cools things to a reasonable level, more appropriate for hiding in shadows than walking on the streets. And besides, you can't go home again.

come to me my melancholy

© Coypright 1992, David Bedno

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