the love of a night like this
title: nights like this – artist: j-live
photo from writtenonthecity.com
I’ve come to realize I love night. Driving at night, especially. Specifically late at night. But, really, my favorite time of day begins at sunset.
There is an intimacy and an atmosphere unparalleled by any other time of day. There is a very specific grandeur and beauty found only in moments like twilight and one a.m. At noon, you can’t replicate the simple, quiet, breathtaking moment of stepping out onto a downtown sidewalk cast in the warm, soft glow of streetlamps and twinklelight-entwined trees. Four p.m., while utterly lovely in its own right, can’t duplicate that first night in summer where it seems twilight is going to stretch on forever as you sit out on a balmy evening, watching the lights come on in living rooms across the neighborhood. Sunrise, while possessor of consummate charm, cannot embody the ease and settled grace of sunset. Night, when teaming up with multiple sources of artificial light, can transform ordinary, industrial-looking stretches of concrete and asphalt and edifices of glass and steel, boxy and plain by day, into extraordinary landscapes; mixes of golden, glowing highlights and stark, enveloping shadows with pepperings of small squares and rectangles warding off an intruding darkness, if only momentarily.
And even though there is a consuming joy to be found in the sunniest of afternoons, driving with the windows down and the stereo blasting, you can’t beat a night lit by stars, a full moon and your headlights, windows cracked and music either just loud enough to hear or blaring, depending on the song and your mood.
Meandering conversations get a little weightier when partially lit and covered in the grey of shadows, steeped in the intimacy and bearing of the unseen.
And sometimes, I think what I like most about the night, beyond the atmosphere and the aesthetics, is that it makes every light count. Even the smallest, dimmest glimmer has significance.
whoa. this is pretty. i would describe just how pretty, but i don’t want to try to follow this act. so i say. it’s pretty.
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Beautiful entry!
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This just conjured up so many visions. Beautiful.
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This is so lovely. You are so lovely. And I agree with you every bit on the significance thing.
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Yeah, there is something lovely about driving late at night or really really early in the morning, when the birds get up. Gives you time to ponder life and have realizations, even if only for a moment…something like that. It’s special.
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That was beautiful, evocative, and true. Love the way you think…
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You are so beautiful. . . . . TO MEEE! CAN’T YOU SEEEE?!
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I’m so sorry, I couldn’t help myself. And it’s early, so there’s that.
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Hi. 🙂 No, I am not responsible for that work of art, but I came across it on Google Images and was pleased with how it kinda looked like me.
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When I was in college, me and my friend would go drive aimlessly during the wee hours of the night, without any destination. It was nice. We’d just sit in silence seeing where the road takes us.
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Once, we even followed an industrial fire just to see where it was.
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I agree. The neatest part fro me is flying in on a clear evening and being able to see the dots of lights spread out accross the continent. There is the glow of the city that creates this ALIVE and VIBRANT undertow. Another awesome experience is when you sit on the beach during a clear night and the sky reflect off the water. Awwww…the thoughts.
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ryn: meh, i’ve been negligent about updating, so I guess that makes us even. So, the hair thing. I’ve stopped using conventional shampoos and cleansers in order to waste less, consume less, etc., even though I still use a chemical peel once a week. I started using the baking soda method described here, http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html, but now just rinse my hair with water…
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with the occasional conditioning vinegar rinse. My hair is less dry, my scalp is less oily, I have less split ends, and I’ve come up with a semi convincing lie for my stylist as to why she can’t wash my hair so it’s working nicely for now.
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this is pretty, even though I might disagree.
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RYN: I was 15 or 16, I think. Not that I’m at the sort of level I should be, as a guy who’s been playing for so long. There were times – long enough ago now that they’re vague, non-specific “times” – where I wouldn’t really play for a whole month. Can’t imagine that now. I should probably write an entry about that sometime. ×_×
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night driving is one of my most favorite too. stopping to savor the after sunset world is something i forget to do too often. thanks for the reminder.
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