Goodnight, Moon

I am a night owl.  You don't have to know me very long for this to become very apparent.  I always have been.  When I was in Junior High and High School, I would practice my piano lesson, watch tv, do chores, whatever I could find until the rest of the family went to bed, and then do my homework late at night, after the house was quiet.

When my kids were little, after their bedtime was 'mommy time', and I would play the piano or read a book after everyone else had gone to bed.  My kids still love to listen to me play the piano as they fall asleep, when they're visiting.  When My Son went to college, one of the things he asked me to include in his first care package was a CD of my piano playing that he could fall asleep to.

Now that it's just Darling Husband and myself at home, you'd think I'd have plenty of quiet hours during the day.  And some days I do.  But there are always traffic and neighbors and delivery people and phones and even birds on the balcony outside that all add to the chaos of the daytime, to me.  It's all just so much noise.  Not to say it's always unwelcome noise, but it is noise, nonetheless.

Somehow, when the moon rises, and the stars have come out, a gentle peace settles over everything, and whole house is quiet.  Then I can feel myself calm, and peace settles over me as well.  The stress of the day goes away, and with nothing else demanding my time or attention, I can.....well...sometimes I read, sometimes I crochet.  Sometimes I write a letter to a friend.  Sometimes I even just sit and watch the city lights.  They are especially pretty tonight, reflected on the wet streets, since it's been a quite rainy day.

Whatever I take this beautiful peaceful time to do, it is a joy to take in the quiet of the night for a while before I head off to bed.