Ode to 5:30am.

At 5:30 in the morning in October it's still quite dark. Except that the ambient light from the city and dense suburbs makes "quite dark" more of a dull grey. The clouds in the east show a just bit of that thinking about it pink.

There are flying creatures circling the streetlights and I'm thinking they won't last long when the weather finally changes. As it is there's a wispy layer of ground fog where the cool air is fighting the still warm ground control of the moisture.

At 5:30 in the morning the cars know where they are going. There's little dithering about directions. If the lights don't turn for me I make them turn, rolling gently backward then forward again. The regulars move swiftly through the back roads. Amateurs use their high beams and brake at every turn and dip. Still even that is better than at 6:30 when the school buses come out.