This morning's wind has gone, and there is now a stillness in which the slightest sound carries for a great distance, so that I hear the barking of dogs beyond the orchard, the cars coming to a stop and then accelerating from the intersection a half mile away, and the drone of a small plane whose lights blink above the canyon on the far side of town. But mostly I hear the absence of any sound of insects. As I suddenly remember the constant hum of summer, the emptiness of the cold night grows more vast. I wish the wind would return.
In other news, further evidence that the meek are no longer content to wait patiently for their inheritance. "That will be $872.93. And which greeting would you like with your purchase?"