The dog woke me up. She got up on my bed, then once she saw that I awoke, demanded that I do something other than sleep. She had two hours until breakfast, so I decided that she needed a walk. It was late at night, so I put on my layers and grabbed a flashlight for the upcoming cold and dark.
We got her harness on and stepped outside, it wasn't as cold as I thought it was. I wasn't feel the icy tinge of below freezing wind like I felt 20 hours ago, it was strangely warm. It wasn't as dark as I felt it should have been. sunrise wasn't for another 2 and a half hours, but it looked like there was a ball of light ready to show itself.
We started walking and I noticed something new, the sound was different. Off in the direction of the interstate there was a sound, like a mix of whining and rumbling, It was the only sound I could hear. It wasn't loud like a concert full of people and music, but it was loud like a dead silent forest and a twig snaps behind you.
I didn't bring my phone so I didn't put in earbuds like I normally do. I kinda do it so that people know that Im not looking at them, but there was noone here. Usually if I walk in the afternoon, I can time the walk so that people are still driving back from work or their kid's school. You know, that time of day where people are outside, but not in the cold like I am. The time of day they are in their mobile indoors that lets them go oudoors without experiencing the out.
I didn't see any cars so that must mean the interstate wasn't the source of the sound. There also was a different kind of interstate in that direction, one for planes not cars. There is a plane route that goes over the river, where the planes dip below the clouds and land. The airport is a 20 minute drive away, but the runway in the air stretches on for a few dozen miles. Eventually the track makes a left turn overhead, tracing a path that reminds me of the track this city is known for. The sound of the planes all merge together into one now, a new one coming every 20-30 seconds. The growl of jet engines that are on the ground, a dozen miles away, sounds like a monster behind the treeline. Occasionall I hear a louder one before it too blends together into one sound.
Its still too bright on the road. There are street lights, but normally there is dark areas between them. I usually bring a flashlight so cars can see me, but its brighter than full moon out here making my dark silhouette pop out from the background. The sky was overcast tonight so the moon cant see me, and I can't see any stars. We crest the hill and I notice where the light is coming from and look towards the city.
A wide diffuse light reflects off the low lying clouds, the city itself is glowing. There is so much light it looks like there is a fire without heat. Miles of lights generating a glowing spotlight stretching across the horizon. that wall of light is now trapped with me underneath the clouds, illuminating me stronger than the full moon. All the people in the city, each with their own light shining into the clouds above, all so I can see in the dead of night without a flashlight.
It was warmer than I thought it was. It was 20f 24 hours ago, but the clouds rolled in after it warmed up. The heat of the warmed earth and concrete radiated up, back twords where the ball of fusion was hours ago, only to be met with clouds. That heat came back down to me slowing down the ice that wants to build up on the car sleeping in the driveway. The city itself also produces a heat, not as strong as the fusion in the sky, but a million small heaters leaking heat into the outside. The heat of the warm man made rocks prevented ice from forming on my glasses as I round the corner back twords the house.
I guess the clouds are the reason this night is so strange. Its an object that has no solid surface, yet it reflects like a mirror. The sound, the light, the heat of the city goes into the void only to be met with clouds and have to turn back to the city from whence it came. The only car I have seen tonight flys past me, they are alone on the road so they use this opportunity to drive the speed they want to without the normal traffic. I go back inside and tell the dog I'll get her breakfast in an hour.
