Tonight is a blue moon. The next one comes in 2009, so enjoy this one while it lasts. I don’t know about elsewhere, but here it is absolutely stunning.

……

This is probably really strange, but I love driving around suburban areas at night.

Ok, now that you’ve gotten over the odd nature of that idea, I will attempt to explain it. You see, every time I go on a trip, its pretty much guaranteed that we will go someplace humid; Indiana, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, etc. That’s why I like humid weather so much. On many trips, we are staying at a hotel that leaves us completely to fend for ourselves. No über-overpriced minibar to rescue us from late night munchies and cost us $15.95 for a mini Toblerone. So instead, we hop in our rental car and cruise around at 11 pm for a grocery store where we can get stuff to eat. It’s astonishing just how many people are at the grocery store at 11 pm for…something. Whether its for two pints of phish food or a six pack, everyone seems to have a good reason to be there. And its more interesting than during the daytime, because of the nature of shopping late at night. Very few people go shopping for normal groceries late at night. I mean, you don’t see people roaming the aisle with salad dressings and cooking oils at midnight. Nearly everyone is buying something they are going to consume right away. And its interesting to see what people need when they need it right away.

As an added bonus, you get to see a lot of cops just…around. There was a police car parked about 1/4 mile from my house, just a city cop, waiting, presumably, for something to happen. Unlikely, but a cop can hope. I was passed by a cop on the way to the store, passed by a cop going the opposite direction when I was driving back home. And there was a sheriff (which, based on their cars, is significantly different from a regular city cop…I mean, they get beige cars…not any old boring white police car, no, they step it up to beige) walking around in the store, I guess for security, just to make sure no one gets any wise ideas. Of course, he also parked in the fire lane in front of the store entrance, which made me smile as I left.

Anyway, now that I’ve got through that cop digression, my original point was, since I’ve done this a lot while traveling, and I love travel, I now love driving around suburban areas at night as well.

For some reason, at night, I can almost convince myself that I’m not at home, that I am really in some other city, cruising around for a bite to eat or more toothpaste. I watch as the glowing signs fly past and I drink in the cool, crisp night air through my nose. I…relax. And trust me, that doesn’t happen often.

djno shhhlisten

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2004 at 10:44 pm and is filed under musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.