Some Nights I Remember

Last night I was in Paris, Texas that is. I walked up to an old blue house, knocking on the door of a client. It was quiet as there was no one home. So with the silence I listened to the rain and the tree frogs and just remembered other amazing nights where I stopped long enough to listen and enjoy my surroundings.

Besides the obvious of having a child or getting married, I’m talking more about those sensual moments where you are truly present. The sounds and flavors of the season resonate and you are truly involved in the place you are in.

One of the first that comes to mind were those evenings where ice cream was a treat. We used to gather around a Dairy Inn-there was no inside, just a great time hanging around in the parking lot eating ice cream. There was a silence, a calm, for that moment everything seemed to be okay.

The next memory was the fireflies rising to the sky. Humid fields in Pennsylvania, listening to
Leonard Lee Rue III before we hiked in the dark up to our primitive campsites. Again, the silence and calm of nature, it is often a chore to stop and listen and truly experience where you are.

I remember Beyond the Bayou, in Uncertain Texas, riding horses in the middle of the night, up and down the steep river banks learning wisdoms from the owners of the quaint hideaway we found on accident. I remember old fashions in the rain and black eyed peas on New Years Eve, it became a family tradition.

One of the best nights with my son was laying on the hard rocks watching a moon rise. I remember camping by ourselves at Lake Murray in Oklahoma. It was almost too quiet, I felt antsy for all of a moment, no television, no diversion. We watched deer across the lake and watched the amazing sky of stars in the lack of city lights.

I miss the balcony in Florida as the moon rose and lit up the ocean. It was always that feeling after a long day of fishing and swimming and we’d watch the ocean as the moon lit the sky.

Recently, I went up to Chimney Rock in Colorado with a close friend. We were on an astronomy tour and even though I got snapped at for using a flash, it was an amazing night of learning how to photograph in the evening

I think the simplest and easiest task is often the hardest. Stop, just for a moment, listen and be. It is amazing how many memories have been etched in my mind that all started with a bit of silence and the wonder and mystery of a night sky.