last night and this morning

Last night was so quiet. The darkness speckled by millions of stars, yet so quiet I could hear the blood run in my own veins. No sounds of elephants browsing, ears flapping, rumbling as they move past the house; no predators calling in the distance or even close up. No mice in the kitchen or in the roof; no owls hooting to punctuate the dark. Where is everyone?

Sometimes its noise that keeps you awake. The persistent ticking of a clock, or a loved ones snoring.  But when its so quiet that all your ears can hear is the inner workings of your own system - it can also keep you awake.

The mind is full of mischief then. It gives you things to worry about. What if........? and what if..? toss and turn. Try and trick the self into thinking its asleep by adopting the pose and breathing deeply. As if someone had walked in the room and you wanted them to think the same. Can you fool yourself?

Apparently yes - because next I caught dawn stealing in wearing soft grey slippers. Ha - I was waiting for you! Beat off the mossie net and light the gas for coffee.

Get dressed hurridly - could only find one sock so that will have to do. Wash face and teeth; find shoes; pour coffee into go cups and out into the brand new day.

Light comes swiftly, tinting the world with pink and gold. Its good to be awake to catch this gift that comes free with a new day. Mist hovers in flat lines over the yellow grasses, moving all around us, fleeing the rising sun. Gold tipped clouds lead the way as fire and brimstone lifts its head between the distant palm trees.

Soft feathery pink grasses and silver grey sage bushes complement the rosy sky. We drive and drive into the back country looking for leopards and signs of lions.  Gnarled leadwood trees provide abstract shapes like a vast sculpture garden. Giraffe peer from behind bushes, termitaria, and distant trees; They are everywhere posing like super models, aloof and disdainful. Whoever heard of a giraffe migration? yet this is how it seems.