N is for Nighthawks

N is for Nighthawks.

Nighthawks, 1942.  Edward Hopper.
 

    I remember seeing this painting while in middle school.  Where I do not remember.  And I felt drawn to the quiet nighttime setting.  It looked peaceful to me and I liked the mood set by the colors the artist chose.  I had felt kindred towards the other nighthawks, subject in the scene, because I was a nighthawk even then. 

Later on as an adult, I would take on a job that saw many midnights and those nights I had off, was spent on the town with my friends at various establishments.  As an adult, I truly understood Nighthawks.  The intimacy of a dark, near empty bar at closing time with a few select friends, talking of things you would tell no other at any other time of day.  Or the alien like serenity of florescent lights in a late-night restaurant, alone with your thoughts just before heading into a late shift.

Although my husband and I bar hopping days are at a close and my midnight job is now tending to a fussy toddler, my preference of night lingers to this day.  Its when I am me.  Its when I like to create or at least when I like to end a work for the day--when that day has already crept into the next.  The nighthawk hours.

Later A to Zers.