Summer Night

The darkness folds down in satin layers, summer softening the transition into night. Silhouette trees fill with the clicking, murmur, and chatter of frogs, crickets, and katydids. Cotton clouds flash and flicker along the horizon, and a few stray fireflies drift through the humid air, signaling back to the distant storm.

High in the sky, the bright spot of Jupiter waits for the waning moon to come for a late-night rendezvous. 

The hours pass and the storm moves on. The excitement of dusk settles into quiet. The stuttering call of the Barred Owl comes out of the forest beyond. The round, welcome, and deep-voiced repetitions reassure me—all is well.