It’s been a series of improbable nights.
Some have been spent in frigid high winds, completely alone in the cold as I snapped photographs of suddenly late sunsets on the nights Campbell McGrath contemplated: nights when the mind occupies a place “always elusive, always a city, and wonderful, and lost. All night I wander alone, searching in vain for the irretrievable.”
For a very long time, solitude has been the hallmark of my nights.
Gravel paths on hillsides amid moon-drawn vineyards,
click of pearls upon a polished nightstand
soft as rainwater, self-minded stars, oboe music
distant as the grinding of icebergs against the hull
of the self and the soul in the darkness. . . .
Deep is the water and long is the moonlight
inscribing addresses in quicksilver ink,
building the staircase a lover forever pauses upon.
Deep is the darkness and long is the night,
solid the water and liquid the light.
But last night, and the night before that, I wasn’t alone. I wandered among crowds on city streets and ventured into places I’ve never set foot before. I met people with wondrous hearts and stories: writers and stand-up comics, actors, radio gods and goddesses, mothers and fathers, people willing to tell their stories and people willing to listen.
Love in the Spaces 
I, too have found myself grabbing those vivid and quickly changing sunsets…I mean literally, 3 minutes, and you have lost the shot…..in the frigid cold, unarmed by warm winter gloves, snow boots, and many times even a coat. But isn’t it worth it? On the solitude….I can relate…around
midnight or 1 am is the turning point for me where I will either go to bed and dream the dreams
of searching or staying up to catch that morning sunrise that is so full of crystal and slippery glass plates that reflect the sky perfectly. Love you~
Last night we had some of the same experiences that you had — we met wonderful people and listened to delightful stories, some funny, some extraordinary, some a bit sad but beautiful (performer with a Down syndrome baby). It was great to see Dr. Bob, Randy/Judy, Dan/Laurel, and Catherine and all those impressive story-tellers.
I love the gold and the blue — and your story of an Improbable Night.. AM