Of Trash Cans and Stars

October 26, 2010
545am

My Beloved forgot to put out the trash so he called me as he drove in to work to ask if I could do it. Of course, I replied.

I bundled myself out of my warm bed and into a warm coat and flip flops and hustled sleepily outside.

I checked the trashes, and dragged the one full bin noisily behind me. 

Halfway down the driveway, as the wind whistled through the trees, I looked up into the still-night sky, and stopped--stunned at the sight that my sleepy eyes saw.

There hung the moon, bright and shining full of her shadows, all clearly visible. Orion was tilted on his side, every star utterly bright and so crystal clear, that had I been tall enough I could have reached out my hand and plucked them like jewels from that navy blue velvet upon which they must be pinned. 

To the left, to the right and scattered all around, like diamonds carelessly thrown aside, were many other stars, equally shining, equally bright, all begging to be plucked. And all along and around were bustling storm clouds, lit up by the moonglow in such a way as to not seem real. They were not smudged or blurred in their lines but so well defined as to appear perfectly delineated, so perfect that this night sky in all it's glory seemed like a movie that had been touched up as to have no errors.

And so I stood there, in my flip flops, pajamas and coat--I stood there in this late October night's wind--and I gaped and sighed in awe of this early morning gift, that had Beloved remembered the trash, I never would have seen.

I finished rolling the trashcan out to the street, placing it just so, glancing up at the sky again and again, not believing the beauty of the moment and having to check and make sure that it was real.  

I threw my gaze around to my mostly sleeping neighborhood. Most houses dark or just waking, the sounds of life beginning to stir, and I knew that much later the whole ambience would have been changed. I knew that mornings light, which could not be too far off, would have changed everything, and while it may have been a beautiful dawn, that I would have missed this glorious end of night.

And so I took my time, slowly walking back up the drive, my gaze firmly fixed to drink in one last glorious moment, one last great view, before I bundled and trundled and burrowed myself back into my warm home and to my still warm bed, kicking off my shoes, tearing off my coat and nose diving back into my still almost warm blankets for a quick snooze before my alarms went off and it was time to truly face the day. 

Burrowed down, eyes sleepily blinking, with a wistful smile, the backs of my eyelids still painted in moons and stars and clouds floating on a midnight blue velvet background that was too beautiful to be real, I was grateful for the forgotten trashcan.