a herd of clouds

illustration by J

The night sky doesn't have the same joyful changeability or the more obvious theatre as that of the day. More often than not, it is a impenetrable stretch of purplish black. Of course, there is some poetry with the moon - those dramatic nights when it hangs large and low.

Two nights ago, round about 9pm when J and I were getting ready to go grab dinner, I looked out of the bedroom window and there was a whole herd of clouds - greyish in the dark - surging forward. The air was still. Yet these distinct clumps of various sizes and shapes moved as if they were chased by something, swift, even urgent, but quiet and smooth.

Later that night I was chatting with Ru over msn. Preggie issues, sick family, spouses, impending babies, job (or jobless) woes, investment-savvy peers, mortgages, retirement (!) fears...I thought, grown-up troubles, how old we sounded!

Of course there's a certain beauty about the night. A stillness where even the traffic sounds seem distant. The air grows cool and light. There's the calm smell of sleep and the sufficiency of your own thoughts. Occassionally, the nights are marred by a certain frenzy over the day that's coming up, but it is not the frenzy of activity. Or at some points of life, the sufficiency of your own thoughts turn against you, and there's only the oppressive monotony of trouble and heartache.

J and I are rather pleased with 安普樂 [read An(1) Pu(3) Le(4)] as the Chinese name for ampulets. 安 is peace, 普 is complete/all and 樂 is joy. When I think of 安普樂, incongruous as it may be, I see in my mind a herd of clouds in the night sky.