Porch Lights (2)

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that dark, too, blooms and sings, 
and is travelled by dark feet and dark wings.


To Know the Dark, by Wendell Berry


After yesterday's entry I thought I'd add a companion piece to capture the more homey side of our porch lights. 

It's normally rather dark outside our house at night, and if I need to go out for some reason I rarely take a flashlight. If possible, I prefer to let my eyes adjust and move about that way. Standing in a bright light surrounded by darkness generally makes me feel more vulnerable than simply being in the dark. It's a curious feeling to walk out of the glow of the house and gaze back at it from a distance. To get yesterday's photo I had to back up right into the trees at the edge of the woods. I won't lie it was a bit creepy, especially since I was near our compost pile, which attracts animals.  Honestly though, even the inside of our house would be considered dark by most people, as we use few lights in general. Again considering yesterday's photo, you wouldn't necessarily suppose that both Amy and Joe were in the house doing their normal thing. Amy just happened to have to the (heavy) curtain drawn and Joe was on the other side of the house. 

Now that I think about it, I'm more likely to use a flashlight to find something inside the house than outside of it. Lighting is not really the issue when the power goes out!