Moonblind

My slow eyes never adjust to the bright and unencumbered autumn moon, so the nights it rules are all exposure and concealment. Who know what might be lurking on the dark side of the street, watching me here where I am washed by that stark light? Earlier, when the moon was in the east, I could be the watcher, though even then my eyes were no match for those of the nocturnal beasts. I was apt to hear them long before catching any glimpse of their vague forms scurrying between shadows. They are easier to hear this time of year, now that the streets are strewn with dry leaves. Before midnight, I heard a twig snap next door, and, after peering for a moment, could make out a pine-dappled deer browsing on a flower bed.

But even my ears are no help once the wind begins to blow. Is that a footfall I hear in the darkness, or merely a skittering oak leaf? Is that a creaking branch, or did something growl? Unless a creature emerge from the shadows, I have no way of knowing. As the moon would now have them back-lit, I wouldn't even see their eyes glow with reflected light. It makes the night feel a bit dangerous. Most distressing of all is when I myself crush a leaf underfoot, or kick one of the fallen, fat mulberry leaves, which makes an alarmingly loud sound. I like the moonlight, but like it more when it is veiled. Stark light, strong drink, and unadulterated truth all have their uses, but none are apt to produce serenity.

( Sunday Verse )

Puzzlement

What weirds me out most about the current economy is that Americans buy all this manufactured stuff from the Asians, who then bank the money they make from selling us that stuff, and the Asian banks invest the money in American debt, and then Americans borrow back from their banks the money they just spent and which now belongs to the Asians and use much of it to buy houses from each other, creating the housing bubble. Meanwhile, other Americans use the increased market value of their houses to borrow still more of the money, and use that money to buy still more stuff from Asia. So, in a way, we're paying more for housing so we can get cheap stuff made in Asia to put in our expensive houses.

It's as though somebody has invented the perfect hamster wheel, and we're all running around and around and not going anywhere. Except now we have goatloads of stuff, and Asians have goatloads of paper. I wonder how long that can go on? And I wonder if the Asian banks put pressure on the Bush administration to get that new bankruptcy law, so their goatloads of paper won't go bad when the whole thing collapses? The new global economy puzzles the hell out of me.

I'd rather watch the full moon come up than to think about that stuff. I got my wish, and there are clouds softening the moonlight, at least in the east. Directly above, the stars have come out, so when the moon reaches there, it might get very bright, unless the clouds move or thicken. It has warmed up a bit once again, so it's going to be a very nice night to be outdoors. I can still hear locusts in the orchard. There are intermittent breezes, too, and more acorns are falling, and more pine cones as well. I'll be careful not to stand under the trees.

Almost insufferably cute: Dawn of the Knitdead.