Why am I writing about The Dark today, for the first time?
I’ve dealt with several dark issues here over the last twenty-one months (yes, I counted), including:
- depression,
- anxiety,
- childhood illness,
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
- suicide,
- and many more.
So why this title, today?
Is it because Mambo has moved in, next door?
I don’t think that’s the answer. Mambo moved in a couple weeks ago.
Is it because it’s the beginning of autumn (also called “fall” in these parts) and it’s going to get dark, earlier and earlier?
Perhaps.
Is it because I took this photo, two nights ago?
Maybe. I took that photo in the middle of the night, hoping to capture a shadow on the wall that looked like a giant menacing bat, after I had managed to wake myself up out of a nightmare.
I knew that if I had the flash on while I took that photo, the shadow would go away. But, as you can see, the image came out completely dark, with no shades of gray.
Why was I trying to capture that big, bat-like shadow? I’m not sure. I suppose I wanted to contain it and –perhaps — to share it with others, as a way of reducing its power.
I WAS able to capture something else that same night, immediately before I took that very dark photo:
A cat, not a bat.
Which reminds me of a song I’ve been meaning to share with you lately:
(“Mammal” by They Might Be Giants, illustrated by thehoosieret, found here on YouTube)
After I took that picture of The Dark, the night before last, I saw some other mammals, in the light.
Thanks to Mambo, to They Might Be Giants, to thehoosieret, to John Lennon, and to all the other mammals that contributed to and who are reading — of course! — this post.