Darkness

I miss the dark. Chicago is a great place to live and I love it. But there are things I miss. Light pollution makes every night bright. There are street lamps on almost every street. There are no shadows, no secret places, nothing left to the imagination. Of course it needs to be light at night to keep people safe. Even so something is lost in big cities, a certain mystery, a connection to our past.

There are a lot of parks in Rockford where I'm from. One of my favorite things was to go out and hike at night. It wasn't pitch black but dark. My friends and I would take hikes using our night and peripheral vision to find our way. There was always a small bit of fear which in a way was thrilling. The fear was a childhood fear of the dark and as an adult feeling that fear is almost nostalgic. There's something fulfilling about going out and feeling an old fear, no matter how old, and overcoming it.

I worked at a camp in Rockford for seven years. Once a summer the staff would spend the night out in the park. Every time we did I would lead a night hike with no torches or flashlights. There's something comforting and evocative of the past about being swallowed up by the dark, surrounded by trees, and knowing which way to go. Or maybe not caring.

The most surprising things can be found in the dark.