I had a moment to myself in the wee hours of Monday morning, when I went outside and sat in the driveway of my parents’ place and listened to the rising symphony of insects and night birds as they called to each other from the shadows. I grew up in the country but I never quite got used to the country dark. Country dark is dark. Impenetrable and vast. It was weird at first but I heard the dogs settling in around me and I saw stars — all of them, every last one — and I sat there and wept with gratitude and fear and hope and sadness. I tried bargaining with the sky but I suspect it will take a lifetime to tell if my offer was accepted.