Yoo, hoo, Muse.

This morning I've absolutely nothing specific on my mind.  Bits and pieces of things are being jostled about the remaining marbles rattling around in what's left of my sanity, nouns here, adverbs and adjectives there.  There goes an incomplete clause.

Sigh.

Minutes tick by while my fingers rest on A,S,D,F,--J,K,L,SEMI-COLON.

Out my office window I can see the four corners of property where every one's yards meet.  One of properties has been working on their deck for quite a while. Last year a large potted evergreen appeared and is sitting in one of the corners.  This year they added a big pink umbrella.  Although I can't see it, there has got to be a table and some chairs that go with it.  In my mind's eye I envision they are sturdy, shiny, black.  The chairs have plush, cushions with big pink hibiscus flowers on them.  During the last couple of summers they have often had folks over, but usually their events were over well before dark.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I came into the office to close the drapes and work for a while and there...strung around their deck was a rectangle of sparkling lights.  Not the Christmas kind, but bulbs that appear, (from my distance) about the size you find in your refrigerator.  The scene is so, so...quaint, lovely, and inviting. 

Did you ever see the Musical or Movie 'The Light in the Piazza'?  Their deck reminds me, not of the story line of the Piazza, but the Piazza itself.  The quaint public square in Florence Italy, where life plays out in a very intimate setting.  I love I can occasionally I hear the lilt of laughter, catch the sight of a woman's coiffured hair, or the fleeting sparkle from the glass of wine in someones hand.

I tell you, it is so enchanting.  I love that whether they are having a social gathering or not, every evening the lights come on, and remain so until I go about my house closing windows and drapes getting ready to retire.  Best of all, I love I'm far enough away to enjoy the glitz and glamor of their deck without feeling like I'm intruding on their privacy.  It's sort of like watching a movie or a play I can envision whatever plot I choose and add dialogue of mystery, love, suspense or scandal to match.

It's funny really, how a simple thing like a string of lights can make a person feel good and excite the imagination.  I'm hoping the lights remain up and active even in the winter.  Can you see...big snow flakes falling, adding inches of powdery white to the branches of the evergreen.  The strand of wire getting covered with flakes until the weight of them causes them to fall, while the glowing bulbs themselves are just the right warmth to keep the snow from covering them.  Do you see her...in long, red velvet dress, she's coming out onto the deck.  Her curly, raven locks are tucked under a white fur bonnet, and her delicate hands are warm inside a matching muff.  A handsome man joins her, his strong arms encircle her, protecting her, keeping her warm.  I see them, I see them.  Do you?

Sigh.

I guess my fingers must have started to move.  I would never have guessed this is where they would have brought me.  Thank you Lights in my Piazza.