Illusive Clarity

Every vestige of cloud vanished, each star shines clear, a shivering point of blue fire. The night air, tremulant, transmits the half moon's light which is a soundless, ethereal cascade drenching every leaf until the garden appears to have bloomed with moonbeams, and the October night becomes the ghost of spring. As the moon approaches meridian, the shadows gather close to each object, huddling in dense mass, and the lighted ground about seems ever more insubstantial- like a second sky, in which the things of the world float while the world itself dissolves. All sound has ceased, save a faint rustling of leaves and whisper of pines, stirred by what might be a great sigh. I have had dreams in which the fall of moonlight had a sound like the faint tinkling of crystal, and smelled sweetly of something very like honeysuckle, and the earth gave slightly under my steps, as though I were walking on a dense fog. Some night such as this must have lent itself to those dreams- unless those dreams have infused this night.

HIC!

I have the hiccUps. Few things irritAte me more. I have to rEmind myself that It cOuld be worse. It could bE irritable bowel syndrome, or sOmething of that sort. At least with hIcups, there's nothing to clean up.

A slightly unseasonable warmth has continued today, but is apt to depart within a few days. Meanwhile, the sound of the window fan and the katydids are reminding me of the summer that came too early and will not go. It'll be the last time I invite that bore to one of my parties.

I just found out that there will be a total eclipse of the moon visible from California on October 27th. It's been a while since I've seen one. Usually, the sky around here decides to cloud up whenever some celestial spectacle is due. It better not happen this time, after all I've put up with this year. The weather gods owe me one.