A Blue Evening

There not far below is a house amongst the pine trees. A portion of it is is lit and it looks a familiar color, though I can't recollect what. Today I sit at this viewpoint a few minutes up ahead of flagstaff. There's a small walk to this place from where my car is parked; when you come to the end, you are on a cliff that falls into a deep valley and you can see the ranges of mountains all the way, to the distance. Today, that horizon is filled with icy blue clouds. I can see boulder city lights to my right, and a few lights here and there in the ranges, the valley. Some birds have filled the valley with their twitters. As the day fades into the night, the blue of the clouds spreads, engulfing the valley. Down there, I can see the vehicles moving up the canyon; people returning to their homes in the mountains? Maybe. The white stone beneath has puddles of water, we did have snow last week. The lights have become brighter now, the whole city is lit, so have the lights in the valley.

Everything is dark blue now, I can see silhouettes of the ranges at the horizon, smudged by the clouds and the night. I remember now. That house reminded me of halloween lights, for some reason. I stare at the scattered lights in the silent blue for one more time, and walk back to my car. A few birds are still twittering. The moon even though still a crescent makes my shadow. A shadow in the crescent moon. And lo, the car looks shiny. And blue. Dark blue.