Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Sound of Crickets

2 am. Another sleepless night. Tossing and turning in my bed with no prevail of sleep. I look up at the ceiling, nothing but blank white tiles dimmed by the darkness of night. I then move to look out my foggy window. The streets outside are laden with a dense haze with only the fuzzy lights from street lamps and houses cutting through the mist. Its criminally silent, not even the occasional sound of a car driving by.

In this irritating silence, I think of my home in North Carolina. I remember the relaxing sound of crickets that would help me sleep at night. When I think about it, the cool night air would be fluttered with the soothing orchestra of nocturnal creatures. And now I sit here in this bed with only the mechanical sound of my refrigerator running to keep me company while I sleep.

I use to scorn North Carolina. I found it to quiet and dull for my taste. Hardly anything was mentally stimulating was going on and I always saw the same people and places. It was a place of perpetual boredom. Tired of seeing the same scenery in North Carolina, I wanted a change in my life. So when I got here, in DC, I was delighted t be here. I was happy to see new faces, new areas that I thought that could never find myself in. But a few months later, I got accustomed to my surroundings. I had grown used to seeing the same faces and the same areas very quickly, and found myself pondering about what it would be like to go back to North Carolina.

Now when I reflect it, it was not the quietness of North Carolina that irritated me, the thing that got me most was my feeling of routine during my time there. Everyday was almost exactly the same for me. I would get up, go to school, then watch TV after school, then do homework, eat, watch TV again, the sleep. The cycle would continue even into the weekend, the only thing that was different was that I had no school.

I think that one of the things I fear most is a sense of normalcy. I need a sense of change in my life. Washington DC gives me that change. I may be getting a little used to the area, but there is a lot that I have yet to discover. And as the days go by during my time in DC, I am having a growing appreciation for my former home. As cliché as it may sound, there will always be a piece of North Carolina that I will carry with me.

3 comments:

Maxine Perella said...

greetings! you write very well, which is quite rare for a blogger. so, it's appreciated. nice blog.

Linda said...

Ahhhh... the grass always is greener. As a young Chapel Hillian, I yearned to leave the slow, pleasant South for the vibrant energy of a city, and did leave a score of years ago for Boston. Once there, I found the social and atmospheric chilliness difficult to take and craved the warm hospitality of North Carolina. Now, I live outside of Baltimore, as happy a medium as one can enjoy betwixt the Mason-Dixon. Enjoyed your poetry, especially Celestial Night. Peace...

Anonymous said...

As I sat in my apartment I began to hear crickets...I thought, it's much too cold out for crickets to be heard. However I am From Texas, and it's always been warmer when I hear them. It was strange to me therefore I googled "Crickets on a cool night"....your blog was one of the 1st to come up. I read and smiled, nearly cried as well. Heh, I have come to love my home more being away for close to 7 years. Of course I go and visit but it's those childhood memories I enjoy the most...Crickets sounding out into the night. Life is so fast and ever so changing. It's always good to reflect upon the past. Then we come to know that change is constant even if we see currently that we fall into routine. It makes me wonder if routine is how many deal with this ever changing world. I do like change and I do like to think of home. It's quite grounding. Thank you for this post.