As soon as we enter the walkway the darkness of the night hits us. The few lights that line the walkway aren't working and the area is pitch black. Esmee carries a small maglite and runs ahead of us into the darkness, showing no fear. Camiel catches up with her and the two bounce ahead of me, trying to outrun each other and making scary noises, leaving me behind in total darkness. I know this walkway inside out, so do the children, and I hope there are no branches on the ground that may trip me in the dark.
The children stop when they hear a screeching sound in the bushes. We shine our torch, but don't see anything. It could have been a possum, or a bird. I was hoping to hear a morepork tonight, as we often do from our porch. I like the morepork, or ruru, as it reminds me of my early years growing up in Holland when I would watch the Fabeltjeskrant before bedtime. This was in the late sixties, when tv was a luxury and there where only a few programmes on at night. The Fabeltjeskrant was one of the very few children's programmes and it was screened every day for 5 minutes before the evening news. You can watch the original begin tune below or watch an English version here.
The story, inspired by the famous Fables of Jean de la Fontaine, was about a group of animals in the woods, and an old wise owl. It has been awarded as the best national children's programme ever. As a young child, whenever I was in the woods, I would look for the animals of the Fabeltjeskrant, Jacob the owl, the sister ants, and Zoef the hare, to name a few. I sadly wonder what today's children look for, Pokemons and Transformers?
We continue our walk. The darkness has given this familiar walk a new dimension. We stop to look at some flowers which have "gone to sleep". The children are surprised to see the buds closed with the petals folded up. When we arrive back at the top of the walkway and we enter our street again the children want more and take an extra detour. In the silence of the night, a familiar walk has turned into an adventure of its own. They listen to noises they usually don't hear or notice, and at the same time they "hear" the silence that is not there during the day.
Back home, Esmee disappears with the torch into the back garden. She spots two garden snails on the path, making their way across. Carefully she picks them up and gives them a helping hand as she doesn't want anybody to step on them in the dark. I don't question who that anybody might be at this time of the night!
While Esmee is exploring the darkness of the back garden I make my way into the spa pool. She and Camiel soon join me and together we soak up the warmth of the pool water and the coolness of the night air, listening to the insects chirping in the garden. We often end our days like this, gazing at the night sky, spotting satellites and shooting stars, making wishes, talking about the day gone and pondering about the day coming. Tonight the sky is overcast, we can not see any stars, and soon it will start raining. But tonight's joyful walk in the dark has lit another star inside us, making up for a late bedtime.
No comments:
Post a Comment