kjpepper | Night Rider

Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

- William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet

I swear sometimes if I could, I'd be completely nocturnal. Nights like this, clear and cold and so starry you could cut glass with the little twinkly diamonds up there, make that idea even more attractive. *shakes head* some one told me I should totally be a graveyard shifter somewhere, but those kinds of jobs usually require a driver's license. *laugh*

I took a 12 mile ride tonight. Yes it was dark and kinda crazy of me, but I hadn't really left the house in like forty eight hours and I needed some air and some distance, you know? So I hit the trail going across the bridge, then switched to Rt 9 cause it was better lit (in places anyway - glad I took sunny's flashlight with me, though I think I'm going to get me a couple of Maglites and duct tape them to my handlebars. Maybe then I'll avoid that pothole I accidentally rode into on the way back - oops. Ow, my tailbone.)

I love riding or walking though Northampton late at night, love the deserted sleepy feel of the streets. Even the dark places on the trail didn't seem at all threatening. It's so funny, you grow up in the city and especially if you're a girl you get it drilled into your head that you need to stay in well lit places, stay out of dark alleyways and some such, and as a result when I first came up here I was pretty deathly afraid of wandering around anywhere in the pitch black. Now I prefer it - somehow I feel safer in the dark, knowing you have to really be looking in order to see me, and feel oddly exposed in the puddle of light cast by sodium streetlamps. I guess I feel like you can be seen under streetlights, but no one knows your there in the dark. And besides, who can feel anything but safe when the gigantic form of Orion is rising in the East? :) I always welcome the mid october night when I look up and see him for the first time - it's like okay. It is now officially fall. I don't care how many leaves have fallen at that point, it's not real until I see Orion (and say nothing).

Sixish miles from home, blood churning hotly through me when I skid into a familiar driveway at the beginning of a new day, just to give a boy a birthday hug and kiss and put him to bed, and then ride back. I'm so silly. But, as I commented earlier, I keep this up and you'll be able to bounce a quarter off my big black booty. :D We'll just pretend we didn't notice us walking up that last hill instead of biking up it. Stupid asthma.

Pretty pretty pretty stars.