Darkness

Hearing my husband moving about our room, I was jarred awake thinking it was more like 6, yet it was 2 in the morning. Alert, it was a hopeless case to sleep. Instead, I talked to my husband about spicy lentil burgers, my new cook book and kid stuff. I tossed. We made plans to walk at 5. I turned over and finally got up, did some not too stimulating paper work and then headed for bed. By that time it was 4:30 so I lay motionless and wide awake, fearing sleep would overtake me and nix our walking plans. 4:50 my husband is snoring ( finally asleep) and I wake him as per our agreement. We are silent as we dress choosing layers to conserve heat. The last few weeks have been frigid. Once under the stars, I realize I should have covered exposed skin. With each step my body warmed, my head lamp lit the way because the woods were shrouded in darkness. The stars were bright while the moon sunk behind the mountains in the west-hidden; neither gave adequate light. So we walked by benefit of headlamp; darkness all around us. With our sense of hearing heightened we paused at the frozen waterfall before turning back into the ink heading for home. Darkness is a common companion.