Sunday sunset

The street lights blinked and blinked and blinked and then came full-on to light our path.

It was all about the sky this evening.

Yes, the dogs were excited and pointed at everything - neighbors, cats, walkers, more cats. Dogs do not wonder at the sky or the clouds that remain after the storms.

But the sky and the clouds were lovely, compelling really. We walked with the sun setting to our backs.So, when the dogs stopped to sniff, I turned around and gazed on the rose and orange, yellow and blue  to the west.

While the street was a speedway, the park was quiet. A few futbol players were still practicing on the damp fields. Young lovers were flirting in the parking lot. Young families were finishing picnics. A sister and three brothers left the ice cream stand holding cups filled high with soft-serve. They were the end of summer personified in their red, orange, yellow and green shirts bright in the rapidly dimming light.

I noticed the rain lilies' scent first (slightly, lightly sickly sweet) and then saw them just up and blooming in groups here and there at the edge of the curb and in the low spots where the water runs. They are the flowers most often spied by the little ones and presented clutched in a grubby hand, child - face beaming. They made me smile as we walked along - as I noticed the bright yellow/orange of the ragweed that has made us all miserable for weeks. It is standing tall - mocking me at the edge of the woods where the manicured fields run across to meet the brambles.

We wandered to the pavilion for a drink of water and surprised the park cat who was snacking on the detritus of weekend meals under the florescent lights.

The dogs paid no attention to me with my container of cool water, the lure of the park cat was too great. They strained at the lead, turning again and again to try and approach her.  And she stood her ground. She waited us out.

We wandered back home to find the neighbors we had visited with on our way down to the park had moved inside...Mohawk dog's mom had finished giving the gang their Sunday baths. The folks in the green house on the corner had abandoned the porch where they had been enjoying the slight breeze and mild fall twilight.

And there was no sign of the enemy. We had cautiously passed its house noticing the gate standing wide-open. Perhaps the enemy is gone now, but we prepare ourselves whenever we reach that block of our walk. One never knows who or what will come out of the darkness. Perhaps it was that cricket chorus again that set our nerves on edge as we left the park. That eerie sound  began as we entered the park and continued as we left...increasing in volume as if to prepare us for the monster to come, or the enemy that did not come.

The clouds and sky were lovely tonight.