A Dark and Stormy Night

Across the Fence #349

It was a dark and stormy night. I’ve always wanted to start a story with that line. Even Snoopy used it in the Peanuts comic strip when he was writing stories, sitting on top of his doghouse.

I’ve talked about darkness before, but it’s usually been associated with a story about looking at the stars at night. Unless you’ve looked at a night sky in the country, you’ve never really experienced the majesty and beauty of the universe. It’s a sight I’ll never get tired of seeing. When the stars and moon are shining, it may be dark, but I never feel like the darkness is oppressive or gloomy. It’s just the opposite; it’s uplifting.

Darkness is defined by Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary as “The absence of light; blackness; obscurity; gloom.”

I’ve experienced darkness in the country too, when clouds obscure the moon and stars. One summer night I decided to go for a walk on our road. It was really dark; like walking in a tunnel with no light at the end. Our road is straight, but as I walked slowly, I couldn’t tell where the road was and the ditches began. It was a very strange experience. It was definitely a dark night, but it wasn’t stormy.

The only lights in the country are from neighboring farms. Even most of those lights were either out or not visible from where I walked that night. I became so disoriented in the dark, I had to feel with my foot to see if I was about to step into the ditch. I could no longer tell which direction I was heading. I finally had to give up trying to walk and turned back toward our house where I could see lights in the windows.

I heard a quote that went something like this: “There’s not enough darkness in the world to put out the light of even one small candle.” I sure could have used a candle or a small flashlight that night.

I’ve got to admit, I like the darkness found in the country at night. The fewer lights the better, because the night sky then comes alive. I’m not a big fan of those yard lights that turn on automatically when it gets dark. There’s enough light pollution without them. Most evenings we can see the glow on the southern horizon from the lights in Viroqua. But that’s nothing compared to the lights around Madison when we lived there. In order to get a good view of the stars and universe we had to drive several miles into the country. We could never walk outside as we do now; look all around us and go “Wow, look at all the stars!”

Actually, we’ve had some dark and stormy nights this summer. That’s also awe-inspiring. Nature is impressive if you take time to observe and drink it all in. Lightning lights up the sky, revealing the massive storm clouds rolling across the prairie. A couple nights it seemed like there was constant lightning as it illuminated the towering cumulonimbus clouds in the distance, that seemed to reach for the stars.

It reminded me of the days of my youth when my cousin, Sandy, and I used to sit and look at the clouds. When we saw a hole in the clouds we thought we were looking into Heaven. If the bright sun suddenly shined through that hole, we thought we had caught a glimpse of God. When lightning flashed and the sound of thunder rolled across the heavens, we thought that God was angry about something we’d done. We often got into trouble together so we probably had a few things to feel guilty about. Those images and the fears we had, were instilled in us as young kids.

In my lifetime so much of that thinking has now changed, as we’ve gained more information about the universe. Now we know that we’re inhabitants on a tiny, blue dot in a universe too large for the human mind to comprehend. It stretches far beyond those holes in the clouds we used to peer through. I’m fascinated with the photos the Hubble telescope has taken of the universe. I’ve always had a curiosity to know what’s out there and keep an open mind to all the possibilities as new worlds are discovered. I’ve also adjusted my thinking to reflect our expanding knowledge and what we now know about life and the universe. My Heaven behind the clouds thinking is long gone.

It’s been said that character, like a photograph, develops in darkness. The same is true of the world around us. It only comes into focus when we allow it to develop. Then we begin to see the picture come to life. In art school we learned how to develop photos. As I stood in the dark, peering into the tray, the photo began to take shape. I was always fascinated by the process. At first the developing images didn’t make sense. Then more pieces began filling in and eventually the picture came to life. I’m still in the developing process of my thinking. Pieces are still filling in as I discover and learn more about life and the world around us.

And it all came into focus one dark and stormy night. Thanks to Alice in Arizona, for the genesis of this story.