Waiting for the Clock to Strike

So they'll be lining up about now, with their wrist bands declaring their places in line and the fun and games coming to an end. Now is when they'll be lining up to get their books.

The boys are there, filled with pizza at best and with ice cream more likely. They are there lining up with all the others, some of them dressed up perhaps, all of them anxious for the clock to strike midnight.

I will not wait for the clock to strike.

The book will come soon enough -- after he's read it and maybe several others after him. But eventually it will come and sit on the coffee table or on the floor beside the futon in his room where all his books seem to spend a lot of time. It will come soon enough. And soon enough we'll know who the half blood prince is.

As for me sitting here in the quiet of the night, there's no line, there's no crowd, and there's no noise. Trudy has long since disappeared. Now, as they line up and wait for the appointed hour, it's time for me to sleep.

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The night before Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Austin TX

11:38:38 PM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []  

Cumulus Clouds in the North

When we walked out of the book store, the sun had just set. There was a glow in the west, and the sky overhead was a deepening blue. But what caught our attention was the massive cumulus cloud in the north.

Lightning periodically raced along its periphery. Sometimes it would erupt in an internal glow. Sometimes the flashes would snake around the outside, jumping between the cloud tops.

At its base, the towering cloud was black, and streaks of rain were falling. The light of sunset painted the western edges of its middle heights pink. And the cloud-tops at the summit shone in blazing white.

We were supposed to get some of that rain, but it passed us by.

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Friday evening in Austin TX

11:02:07 PM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []