Up Before the Dawn

Temporary insomnia has its benefits.

The world is pleasantly silent in the wee hours of the morning, save for the humming of tires from the roadways which near my community. When all is quiet in the world, it’s interesting that one can hear such sounds as if they are coming from the next room.

There is a very strange sound I hear on occasion. I can only compare it to the sound a hippopotamus makes. And the best way I can describe that is very similar to a Jabba the Hutt laugh. Click below to listen:

As the cooler weather arrives, I am looking forward to the return of the coyotes that make their home in the cable cut behind my complex. I’ve seen a few of them on occasion but I hear the whole pack when the moon is full. Their mournful howl sounds so sad but I can’t help but smile when I hear them sing in harmony with a passing emergency vehicle blasting its siren at full wail.

As the dawn breaks, the early birds take wing. Usually the seagulls are the first to announce their presence, squawking their way across the sky toward their watery destinations.

Next the squirrels awake and scamper to and fro searching for nuts or seeds for breakfast; their tails twitching with excitement. The gray squirrels are the most fun to watch as they chase each other with perfect balance across the stockade fences and around the oak tree trunks; chattering in a language only they understand.

Morning rolls into afternoon and then into evening. The early evening hours bring out nature’s battle tank, the armadillo. They waddle with their noses close to the ground in search of insects and grubs. Also on the hunt for insects are the Florida Evening Bats. Not a very original name but appropriate nonetheless. These night creatures appear at dusk to eat their fill as they zip and dart in the evening air.

This cycle repeats over and over, every day and yet I never tire of it.