The lure of the open spaces

Because Summer, I’ve had to take my daily walks earlier than in other seasons. Viz: I’m on the pavement by 0500 and even then I’m soaked when I get home an hour later. One morning I woke up at 0345 and just got up because I knew I had no hope of more sleep before I had to start walking.

When I start out, there are only crickets to accompany me, with the occasional sleepy bird. About halfway through, the rest of the chorus has started up. I don’t use manmade sound, largely because I don’t need it, but also because I like to hear my surroundings when it’s still black all around me. The People’s Republic being what it is, there are actually no streetlights between my cluster and Wiehle Avenue (about a mile or so), so when I say “black”, I mean it. The darkness starts thinning around 0530, and it’s almost light when I get back home.

So I rely on Artemis to light my path. She’s been waning over the past two weeks, as you can see—here she is on the 25^th; not quite full:

The next morning, she was playing with her companion, Mars:

By the 27^th, she was outracing him:

And the day after she left him in the stardust:

Here she was yesterday, a completely different position in the sky:

Here she was this morning, just a shadow of her former self, although you can see her full outline (Mars was actually behind me when I took this shot):

 

(I may need to carry a flashlight for a few days, until she returns from her monthly rest.)

In honor of my silver companion, today’s earworm is Mary Chapin Carpenter singing “The Moon and Saint Christopher”. Right now, the lure of the open spaces has to be satisfied with a walk, but the open door still tempts me.