Last night, I was able to enjoy my first campfire of the year, here at the cabin. With the early season lack of rain and subsequent dryness, there was a total fire ban in Boulder County until recently. I had cleaned out the fire pit a few weeks ago in anticipation of the ban being lifted with our almost daily July thunder showers each late afternoon and evening. And, the first fire of the season didn’t disappoint!
After earlier showers, the evening was clear…..as I sat starting and then tending the fire as the sun set….I was able to see the bats come out of their wooded roost for their nightly forays into woods surrounding the cabin. Slowly the stars began to appear…..first one, then two, then a multitude. As it darkened around me I began to wonder where that intrusive light was coming from….had a neighbor added a large spotlight that I could now see through the trees that would now go on and off with a motion sensor? Since I was comfortably settled into my fire watching seat, I was not pleased that I needed to get up and walk around some trees to ascertain the source of the offending light….which began to cast a larger than expected dull white sheen over the entire area. As I walked around the clump of trees I was greeted by one of the two moons that will appear this August….the second on August 31st will be a “blue moon”. This one was full, and bright, and reminded me of all those books and stories about moonlight…both good and bad……providing night light for those lost or postponing invasions and stealth operations for fear of easily being seen.
Sunset, stars, moon, fire….I had it all…the low level night noise, the crackling of the fire, life is good…..I couldn’t make it better.
psuper 