Before the Dawn

 Stepping outside after waking in the early morning, I notice at once, the shadows. The moon, just a few days past full casts shadows into the yard giving an appearance of almost daylight. Darkness is prevalent in them. No details are present, only shapes and suggestions. Clouds drift quickly by.

    It is quiet, peaceful. An occasional car breaks the silence passing on the highway in the distance. Acorns fall every once in a while, their sharp loud noise, startling. I take a seat on the chair sitting on the porch to relax and watch.

    A cloud drifts in front of the moon darkening the shadows even more. The trees are just silhouettes, two dimensional, framing the sky above. To the east in a patch of clear sky Jupiter stands proudly by itself, a couple brighter stars standing a few degrees away. The clouds then slowly reveal Orion sitting below to my tired eyes.

    Sitting in the moonlight, even though the moon is covered by clouds, my seeing improves.  I can see the watering cans sitting beside me, the speckling of the paint on the porch, the cracks between the slabs of the sidewalk and the sticks placed in the garden months ago to hold back the overgrowth.

    The neighbors' lights are all off, no porch lights disturb the darkness. Dim lights show through here and there, nightlights escaping from with-in.

    The moon disappears, the clouds hiding even its shape. A mere brightness is all that remains to remind me where it is. Jupiter and Orion have gone also, covered by the advancing clouds. Though the moon is gone, the scenery is still visible.

    Traffic on the highway has increased, the sounds becoming a steady hum, hiding the silence of the night with the noise of the day to come. Cars pass by on closer roads, a motorcycle, an airplane passes overhead and then the drone and lights of a helicopter passing by.

    Jupiter and the moon peek through holes for a minute or two before disappearing again in the thickening clouds. In the eastern skies a faint orangish hue touches the clouds, just barely noticeable.

    Twenty minutes later, the clouds have dissipated, and the moon and Jupiter are visible once again though most of the stars have faded away. Pinkish clouds sit off in the east. The sky is now blue as compared to the near black of before.

    The background noises are now continuous, traffic, planes, the cracks and bangs of the manufacturers located below me.

    As I watch as the remaining stars slowly disappear, a flock of geese passes somewhere above and behind me. Only two stars remain beside Jupiter and then, they are gone also. The yard is brightening. Dawn is nearing. The brakes of a delivery truck squeal as they are set and a bang sounds as a ramp is attached to it. The noises of the day have successfully eradicated the silence of the night. Watching as the clouds return to cover the moon and Jupiter once again, I decide, it’s time to go back inside and maybe make a cup of coffee; the day is well under way!