There are other sounds, as well. Raccoons are out, and several times I have heard them clambering over fences and rustling the brush and fallen leaves. There was also another animal, moving quickly, making less noise. I shone my flashlight into the dark and caught a glimpse of the bright yellow reflection of its eyes looking back at me from a yard down the block, but I couldn't tell what creature it was. It turned and swiftly vanished.
The smoke of the brush fires must be diminishing, as I can see the stars clearly in the midnight blue sky. Orion now passes meridian well before night fades. The horizon of trees which bound the sky is still massy with foliage. The view will expand with autumns advance, and grow more intricate as twigs and branches are revealed. The arboreal shadows of the next moon's night will still be dense, but the following moon will reveal the beginnings of that tapestry the waning year lays on the ground- the weaving of moonlight and complex shadows and decaying leaves into ornate designs that turn ordinary lawns and pavements into fantastical floors strewn with signs and symbols revealing the ravels of time.
