Wednesday 11 August 2010

D is for Dusk


As the night air cools, the city slows and settles on its foundations, relaxing its garments and emptying its mind, easing down. The darkened lane meanders still, up the rise and over the hill, the incandescent globe marking the way through tattered papers and abandoned cars.

Naked branches creak as dew descends, the spring sap still far from flowing. A door slam echoes across the void, a dog barks a warning, a gruff voice responds.

Our weary worker wends her way through the deepening shadows, eschewing the frail bonhomie and heaving nightlife, returning to her stuffy home with its sink of stacked dishes, and her smalls pegged on twine across the dim courtyard. Back to her slippers and sherry, back to her aspidistra and cross-stitch, back to the land of the 7 o’clock News.

Back to her dinner for one on the rise, on the rise overlooking the beckoning town.

A member of the ABC Wednesday community.

30 comments:

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh Julie! Thank you for the perfectly illustrated story. Or perhaps it's the perfectly worded illustration!

I feel I know that unknown worker very well!

Carver said...

I think dusk is such a magical time. Beautiful words and photograph.

Vinay Leo R. said...

what a great shot of the dusk :) lovely magical foto! :D

Sylvia K said...

What a lovely time of day is dusk! Beautiful capture and lovely words that just about all of us can or have related to at one time or another. Enjoy your week!

Sylvia

photowannabe said...

Simply beautiful word picture you composed for us. I see Dusk in a new light.

Gigi Ann said...

Lovely picture of dusk, and the word picture story is so real, it makes the picture come to life.

Leslie: said...

Lovely photo - I can only reiterate what Gramma Ann said above. :)

Roger Owen Green said...

nice narrative to go w the pic.

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Jim said...

This shot has a wonderful atmosphere.

Hildred said...

Beautiful photo - poignant words.

Unknown said...

i love this kind of photos, dark and mysterious.

Gunsside said...

Great shot, very beautiful ;)

Al said...

Wonderful shot, the color gradations are incredible.

Tes said...

I love dusk...it hold a certain kind of peacefulness. :)

Gayle said...

I always like how the colors melt into the sky then eventual darkness. Nice capture.

jabblog said...

Beautifully expressed, both in words and image.

mrsnesbitt said...

Beautiful match of narrative and picture! Thanks Julie.

Denise
ABC Team

Kim, USA said...

Love your photo and your words. Happy Wednesday!

ABC Wednesday~D

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

You bring the magical qualities of dusk alive!

Nonchanbkk said...

I want to go to there. Nice picture.

VioletSky said...

Love the reflections in this shot.
I often think of dusk as an alone time, bittersweet.

Julie said...

Thank you friends for your appreciation. I think research has confirmed that dusk is the 'depressive' time. As VioletSky noted, its beauty is bittersweet.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I have been doing some dusk shots on the trip. I find it both a beautiful and challenging time to photograph. How to get the dark vs light just right. In the city it is different from the desert because the building lights come on to give the black bits interest.

Today's prose is almost poetry.

Julie said...

Thank you for the final comment. I almost broke it into verse, but decided that detracted from the sound and sight image I wanted to weave. But poetry was on my mind as I crafted this. Which took much longer than my usual Riff although exactly the same length, 150 words.

Arija said...

This is so deliciously written that I savoured every word. You certainly evoke the end of the day to perfection, you certainly sucked this reader right into the mood of the evening. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Oh what a beautiful photo and write-up. Dusk is one of my favourite times of day, along with dawn - I forgot about those D-words, now I want to start all over again... :)

Jay said...

How beautiful that is!

Cheryl said...

I loved loved loved this post. Magical photo with words to go with.

Someone is Special said...

What a shock?
I just loved the photo.. Great...
Do stop by Someone Is Special, ABC Wednesday..

Yours Frendly,
Someone Is Special

rallentanda said...

Love this. Thank God for Paddington.Slippers Sherry and smalls pegged on the line...My Sydney.