A Nighttime Observation

I avoided Cheshire tonight. Love you Cheshire, but I don’t think I can hold myself to your speed limits. I’m admitting it. It’s not you, it’s me.

I don’t love everything about Connecticut. I wish it was warmer. Mostly though this is a nice place to be. I am especially lucky to live in what I consider ‘the country.’

It’s beautiful here day and night. That was very evident as I got out of my car while the sliver of a Moon was setting in the west.

Tonight the sky is ink black. The stars are bright.

It’s one of those nights where you can let your eyes adjust, then see deeper into the more dimly lit objects. The black is speckled with extremely weak blurs of gray light.

This is the kind of thing I never experience until we moved out here about twenty years ago. I was a city boy completely uninterested in the world I now see. It is astounding to look at.

I avoided Cheshire tonight. Love you Cheshire, but I don’t think I can hold myself to your speed limits. I’m admitting it. It’s not you, it’s me.

It was 84 to 91 to 15. I got off in Wallingford near “The Oakdale,.” went up Cook Hill Road then turned left on Tuttle.

This road couldn’t be built today. There is nothing safe about it. It is rolling, narrow, and winding. There are no shoulders. It’s dark.

I drive past a few houses then into the woods behind Sleeping Giant State Park. There have been deer here the last three nights. I’ve also seen a fox, skunk and raccoon. It’s going to be a busy year of avoidance.

When you’re a kid you think about what you might become and where you might be. The TV thing is reasonable since wanted to be on the radio. The living in the country–that never entered my head.

15 thoughts on “A Nighttime Observation”

  1. Geoff — Part of what I love about you, is the way you embody all of us here from, in CT — that is to say: you acknowledge all that is challenging – the cops, the roads, the lack of logic in design….and YET: you live and navigate and appreciate & EXPRESS said appreciation for the wonder of just being here.

    1. Connecticut is very organic. It evolved over hundreds of years. Where I live is the antitheses of most suburbs.

  2. True. I was born in Hamden, well — ok, New Haven since it was St. Raphael’s, raised in Greenwich & now live in Simsbury. All of which means only: hey wavey guy right now across the space time continuum. Fan blush.

  3. Used to live in a more urbanized area of Hamden near Meadowbrook Golf Course. Now live in a town that doesn’t believe in street lights. When we first moved to Guilford 15 years ago, I was amazed that I could see stars. Other than for night driving, the country is the best.

  4. It’s always wonderful to get away from the city glare and be able to look up at the sky and see the stars and the blurs of light you describe. Was able to do that in Madison many years ago.

  5. Beautiful observations Geoff. Animal life in our backyard in Orange and trees!! Has anyone told you you are a excellent writer? Your descriptions are so great I could see myself there. On second thought maybe not…..

  6. Very Nice Observations. I also wish it was alot warmer. I love warmer weather I’m a warmer weather fan! We see alot of birds here! Squirrels sometimes as well.

  7. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME WE WILL SEE THIS EVENT

    Calendar for July 2011 (United States)

    July

    Sun Mon Tue Wed Thr Fri Sat
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31

    This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags. Based on Chinese Feng Shui.

  8. I was also born in CT and raised in Hamden, and having lived in a half dozen other states am very happy to be back, though in Branford, near the Sound. (Not near enough to be expensive, fortunately). I loved living in NYC, but now I’m addicted to the sounds, scents, and some of the wildlife (the snakes, mice and bugs, not so much). We have a fox who comes to visit every day – we think she has a crush on my cat. And a soon-to-be-momma raccoon has just moved into the tree outside my window. Love it!

  9. I, too, love living in the country. Anybody notice the increase in frog noise last night? It’s truly deafening if you listen. It’s funny how your life can go on and never notice nature; but when you look and listen and smell, it’s overwhelming!

    I’ve often reflected on CT as a place that’s wonderful to live (we have it all, albeit small: “ocean,” rivers, lakes, mountains, farmland, cities, country, submarines, helicopters) but I wouldn’t want to vacation here!

  10. I live and work in the Litchfield Hills area of CT. I highly recommend Deer Whistlers; they are placed in the grill part of your car…..Deer not only hear it, but literally move out of the way when you approach. Here’s the website to purchase….

    http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Automotive-01000-ALERT-BLACK/dp/B000CC4O58

    Very inexpensive and worth every dime. Good luck in your travels not only commuting back and forth to work but for any driving through the country sides.

  11. I have lived in Ct all my life and currently reside in a really woodsy area of Orange. Love all the creatures from the deer to the chipmunks. However, not so much with the spiders!! Luckily, the really BIG ones, you know the kind with visable hair and requiring some type of weapon to kill, tend to reside outdoors. Thankfully my husband has no fear and can get any intruders!!

  12. I know what you mean.I was a city girl born and raised.I now live in the country and it is so different.I love it hear but still miss being able to walk to the store,friends house ect.

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