Just came in from dropping Zeke off at the radio station where he co-hosts a weekly show. It is warm tonight. A comfortable warm which makes me crave iced tea & star watching. This is a well deserved reprieve from the energy depleting heat of the day. The desert will bake in triple digit heat any day now... it is a fight to stay productive.
I traced my way back home from the radio station through darkened streets. (There are very few street lights in Tucson which is great regarding light pollution/but frustrating when you are trying to read street signs!)
The familiarity of 19th street-a stretch of road that leads me home; its deserted industial feel made a bit softer by the warm, ill-lighted stillness of the night.
Warehouses, watchdogs, train tracks, stray cats and discarded wooden pallets...
I could hear a train whistle unnervingly close by and just as I approached the tracks the crossing gate came down in front of me. I have a very vivid imagination and therefore rolled up the windows and secured the locks before settling back to watch the cars pass before me one by one by one in the dark.
I love the sound of trains in the distance but there is something exciting and unsettling about being close to one as it rattles past. Creaking and screeching metal-a creature from the past-each car marked with time and concealing not only cargo but also so many stories.
The graffiti covered cars passed like a film before me in the red flashing light and clanging of warning bells. After a few minutes a huge beast of a vehicle pulled up behind me and kept its headlights blasting into the cab of my little truck. Disturbed by the invading high beam brightness; I flipped my rear view mirror up and caught sight of a fireworks display going on right behind me; a carnival of rosettes exploding in sulphurous bouquets in the night sky.
Train, bells, lights & fireworks in the mirror...very strange indeed! An exquisite moment when elements of ordinariness converge to become delightful...memorable.
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