I was in traffic driving home after my camp reunion. And as I drove I looked around I realized that the intersection I was in looked gorgeous. In the dark, I would be able to analyze all of the individual lights and their results. I can’t say what intersection this was, I don’t remember. It is somewhere in Henderson. But I know that I would be so happy to find it again.
The main source of light is coming from the gas station. Especially the neon blue over the gas pumps. This is what draws the eye from the darkness. These lights prove to be an excellent marketing strategy of course, and yet something eerily inspiring. It was enough to get my creative juices flowing and wanting to explore the deeper meaning of light in a dark and dismal world.
The view of the light post is incredibly dynamic in terms of the way that all of the lights hit them. There is at least one light source highlighting them from every angle other than up, which is un natural to begin with. There is even light coming from, no more than ten feet behind me as I took the picture.
I was leaning out the window of my car and in the reflection of my mirror can be seen the reflection of the light. What I find especially interesting about that particular light is the way in which it interacts with the dew on my mirror. It scatters the light and creates a nearly ethereal view of my hands grasping my cell phone as I took the picture.
I also really like the sterile look of the street lamps. It brings to mind a quote from Guys and Dolls “When the smell of the rain washed pavement comes up clean and fresh, and cold/and the streetlamp light fills the gutter with gold.” I think of this because between the fresh rain, and the shimmering lights in the sky, you can’t help but feel at peace in the way that Sky Masterson was trying to explain with the song.
At least for me, I personally associate this picture with a kind of serenity. Like Sky, I find a kind of clarity in the wee hours of the night; at those gorgeous times when the night slowly starts to become the morning. So many of my favorite memories in my life took place in the nights when I did not sleep when I instead decided to use those hours to better get to know someone, write a paper, or watch a movie. Sometimes all of those things occur simultaneously!
Of course, this picture was taken no later than 9:30 not at 5 A.M. Yet, it has that sense of quiet for me. The only difference to me would be if the cars were not there casting the interference of nirvana known as headlights. I think my clearest as I drive home after a late night when there isn’t another car on the road.
