Night Shift

A quarter century ago, while working the overnight shift at the radio station, a strange, sweet melancholy would envelop as the Sun set before work. That was one of the things I really liked about that job. It reminded me of working with my dad. When he'd have a contract job needing to be finished before the next day, we'd have to work that night until the job was done. Working quickly in the cool night air, the things that would have worried or frightened me as a kid would slip from my mind.

Over the years, while working a couple of other jobs that required occasional night work, that nostalgic melancholy would creep up on me. That may be why I've never really been opposed to working at night. My current job doesn't require a lot of physical labor, other than typing, or the rare moving of a computer, but sometimes there is work that requires me to be there after-hours. When it does, that old familiar feeling finds me. I greet it as an old friend.