DUSK | THE DAWN OF THE LIGHTS
MAGIC OF DUSK
They say that dusk is a time of magic, as it falls 'twixt the day and the night, thus being a kind of in-between. Those things that fall in-between are often inhabited by magic; it is here that the veil of our world and the spirit world becomes thinner - so that one might just reach out, and grasping correctly, grab the coat tails of a passing ghostly gentlemen.
WALKING AT DUSK
My mother and I would always go walking at dusk through my hometown. We would wait till all the day-trippers had gone home, and the lamps shone puddles of light on the paths, and we would peer into the windows of the shops to see the treasures that glinted within.
I love walking through a city at this time. The heat of the day, having soaked into the pavements, is now leaving again - rising upwards to meet the cold air that chills my cheeks to a ruddy pink. Lights are turned on, here and there, and soon all the city will be aglow with golden fireflies. Squint just right, and you can see them hovering in the air.
Dusk is that time when all things are quieted, till I can hear a buzz in the air... It is the promise of the evening, when all the restaurants will be brimming with wine-drinkers, and all the pubs are overflowing with the lively connoisseurs of beer. But, for now, there is only the plodding of my feet and the seething wind in bare branches.
Solitude at dusk is a wonderful thing.
OCTOBER 25 2014
It seems strange that night should come so early: that at around 7pm the world should get dark after such long summer evenings. But, in another way, this is a welcome change, as body clocks are set back and inner mumblings speak of cold hands wrapped around hot chocolates. I find the lights in the windows comforting, and there is nothing like the feeling of coming in from the cold, cheeks rosy red and glowing with warmth. These are the days of firesides and silent wanderings...
I found myself wandering upon an evening, in the gardens of Princes Street, beneath the gaze of the ever present castle. Down there, it seemed looming and close, wrapped in twiggy branches like a vision from the Adam's family.
Then the blues of the sky paled...
And dusk came on.
The lights of the city were twinkling through trees, as if each tree was adorned with fairy lanterns.
The hues of land and sky were beginning to deepen to sombre purples. Yet, towards the city the light spilled out from monuments.
I knew it was time to go home, dinner was calling. And as I walked I watched night fall across Edinburgh.
