Let's talk about streetlights. Regular city orangish street lights. Seemingly BORING. Ok, not seemingly. They know more than they tell. And they only have a brutish, simple language - not even to the level of grunts and clicks of Neanderthals. Just 'on,' or - as a contrast, off.
"Big Kahuna Burger? I ain't heard of them."
I don't know about you, but I put them out ahead of me. (Not consciously. That'd be Jedi-crazy.)
It just happens. 'Plink.'
They go out. Sometimes two, three at a time - like they were waiting for a particular reason - dying out in rapid succession, with nary a flicker, they're out. In a row, it actually looks cool on a quiet side street, the schmeary orange glow on the leaves of the myriad trees, replaced by moonlight, or just caressings of decreasing darkness... The dogs never seem to mind, as their noses tell them more than their eyes. The fixed entities don't care... (Unfeeling bastards.)
Streetlights. They freakin' go out. Been seeing it for almost twenty years.
Not ALL of them. Only a few. Some. A bushelful. Mere smidgens of the whole. (Could they track me this way?) (They?)
But it is consistent, and that is what worries me. Or, more to the point, CONCERNS me.
Because - WHY? How? Explain?
Why would lights go out ahead of me, what did I do, why do I notice them endlessly? Don't I wash my hands often enough? Am I exuding some sort of 'hot' electromagnetic flavor that miraculously turns the streetlights off? I'm not THAT hot. Ok, I AM. But I brood.
These are hard-wired street lights, set to come on at a certain 'lack' and go off when the 'want' is satiated, like a rising sun breathing into a new day. They don't have any opinions - or - do they?
Something must be aberrant. (The hair on my neck used to stand up, but I man-scape that scritchy stuff these days, so there's nothing to reveal that involuntary response... better living through razors.)
"May I have a drink of your tasty beverage with which to wash this down?"
I spend a lot of time walking the dogs when I'm home, and a good deal of that is at night, so I guess I'm in the 'right' place at the right time. Is that enough? These things have independent sensors that determine light and dark, or whatever their on/off function calls itself. If it's dark, they come on. If I come by, running the night, they may or may not go out. It's like a cheesy 80's rock song.
"I put out street lights
Walkin' down the way
They just go out, Baby
No matter what you say..."
They seem to go out more often if I'm angry. When I walk my hound dog - he's a coonhound mix so he sniffs with complete canine purpose - I find I get peeved about pausing so often to let him consume some aroma that's hovering below my olfactory range. (Dog lilacs.) But - I want to walk, my pace is set, the leashes are a certain length. My arms only stretch SO far. My other dog seems to pace me perfectly, she never stretches me out beyond what I'm ready for.
Then it begins, subtly.
"What does Marcellus Wallace look like?"
Hound dog lingers. LINGERS. My pulse quickens, and I know it. He snorts and snoots his way to China for all I can tell, so if I have a head of steam, it's the last thing I want. Someone's probably watching me, judging. The headphone cord gets tangly. My arms get pulled two directions, my attention wavers, my Ipod skips a song... 'Air Supply?' NO!
The center DOESN'T hold. (Yeats, you dog.)
Then, when my blood curdles up, one'll go out ahead of me. My side of the street. 'Znip.' I see it. It happened. I know it, consciously. Timing is all, right? Why THEN? And we're off...
I pull the dogs, swearing under my breath, exasperated for the zillionth time... Let's keep moving, Hunden.
Then another light. Out. Buhznish. Same side of the street, only a handful of steps beyond the last.
"Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides..."
It's more dramatic if I'm in a vehicle. Looks like it's planned, even. More so if I point it out to the other occupants of said vehicle. It doesn't seem to matter who, no one can cancel it out, so far.
My lady-love didn't believe 'I put out lights' until she had no choice but to believe it. Three or four in a row is fairly convincing. Replacing light bulbs in the house gets tedious.
SO, it is a phenomenon in my life. We make adjustments for this sort of thing. I've basically gotten used to it, it's a bonafide. No one has dampened it yet, so I'll just live with it.
When I googled 'street light interference' I discovered that I'm some sort of 'indigo' and I can levitate and create ice-fire and mow lawns with lasers or something REALLY cool.
SO am I inhabited by spirits or depressed? (Who isn't?) I had an energy drink today, so...
The lights still go out. You could track me by it at times. 'They' know it.
Now, we all do.
Chill. I'm reducing Seattle's power bill.
"Any time of day is the right time for pie."
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