"Midnight Walkabout"

There's just something awe-inspiring about the city at night.

As an artist, I adore the contrasting interplay between light and dark. The way it interacts upon it's environment. The way it casts shadows on some things and highlights others. As an actor, I long to investigate the drama and conflict between differing elements in nature. I love to investigate the relationships, the interactions, and the purposes for existing that those various elements contain.

But, put both of these categories together, and it's pretty easy to see why I love the night so much. It's full of those kinds of elements. Lights. Shadows. Conflict. Symbiosis. It's absolutely awe-inspiring, and when you take the time to breathe it in, it's a beauty in a class all its own.

As many of you know, I love to take walks, particularly where God's masterfully created nature can be seen. I grew up living in the country. Hiking easily became a hobby of mine. And I can remember the many trips me, my dad, and often some of my younger siblings, would take out into a local state park, the countryside, or even just our own large backyard. Whether is was looking at plantlife, watching for animals, or just marveling at the trees towering over us, the beauty in nature has always had a hold on me. As an artist, some of my favorite themes continue to draw upon this interest. And, as an individual with a healthy sense of curiousity, it's probably to be expected that, for me to be normal, I would need to continue venturing out into my local surroundings.

Tonight I satisfied my personal definition of "normal". I took another one of those walks. With Spring upon us, the weather is perfect, even at night. I can grab my jacket, pick a direction, and go explore. This evening it took me past a local steel water tower (which, for some reason, I continue to find intruiging every time I walk by), through one of the local city parks, where I stopped on one of the dark baseball fields to look up at the multitude of stars in a cloudless sky, and then back down the quiet empty residential streets to my apartment.

There's something about the sounds too. Generally, there aren't any. But that's the beauty of it. Everyone is sleeping. There are very few people around to make noise. The streets, normally busy during the day, are silent -- and empty. I can walk right down the middle of them, and almost never see oncoming headlights forcing me back onto the sidewalk. I can hear wind chimes on porches, paper rustling on the street, voices of kids out later than they should be from across a park....

It's a spectacular time of day, and it certainly holds a charm few of us ever take the time to enjoy. It's just a shame we -- as a society -- are so driven by time, career, and paycheck that investigating something as simple as the night escapes us. But I guess I must be "old-fashioned" then. Because, the way I see it, God put us here to enjoy His creation, and since we're only here for a short time, why not appreciate it whenever we can.

Even if for no other reason than to be awe-struck.

Afterall, sometimes we just need to take time to realize too, that though we may be a small physically insignificant part of that creation, spiritually, we're the most important element. And for an actor/artist like me, that's a dramatic contrast that blows my mind!

So, here's hoping sometime(s) you too are able to take the time to get out and let your curiousity be your guide. Seek, explore, go where the wind blows. You'll see a whole different world around you, and you'll be able to appreciate the same beauty I see when I venture out into my surroundings and my little corner of the world.

Creation is a museum of art. Be cultured. Be moved. Visit often.

Your happily blogging friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 12:44 AM  I   I  0 comments