In the sea of darkness…I Heard
1:40am
It is spring and the windows are open a crack for the mere comfort of sleeping with a cool breeze. And as the cool breeze floats in, I am tucked in under a mound of old quilts and doze off to faint wind and smells of fresh rain. Within the hour, I wake up and through eyes that could not adjust to the darkness in the night sky, my ears become my sight. I hear them calling to one another. Softly at first as if a love song voiced throughout a choir from altos to sopranos. Within minutes, the hooting becomes fiercely louder. It is familiar and instantly recognizable. The sounds are an ushering in of spring as if cymbals were clanging. I do not see them in the dark night sky, but I hear them. The loons on the lake have returned to their summer retreat where they are seldom seen by day, but through the darkness of night, their wails in rhythmic fashion calm me and a smile purses my lips. I listen, curl up, pull the quilts snuggly around my face, shut my eyes and drift off to the sounds of the night sky.