When the Streetlights Come On (Encore)

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Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good,

Speaker 1 and then

Speaker 1 you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location.

Speaker 1 And since I'm a person and not a computer, I sometimes sound just slightly different.

Speaker 1 But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams.

Speaker 1 Now.

Speaker 1 Busy minds need a place to rest.

Speaker 1 That's how this works.

Speaker 1 I'll tell you a story,

Speaker 1 and you can rest your mind on it.

Speaker 1 Just by listening,

Speaker 1 we'll shift you into your brain's task-positive mode,

Speaker 1 where sleep is possible.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice,

Speaker 1 and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night,

Speaker 1 don't try to muscle yourself back to sleep.

Speaker 1 Softly, softly is the approach, friends.

Speaker 1 Just turn an episode right back on

Speaker 1 and you'll drop back off to sleep,

Speaker 1 usually within seconds.

Speaker 1 This is grown-up sleep training.

Speaker 1 And for most folks, best results come after a few weeks of regular use.

Speaker 1 So be patient with the process.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called When the Street Lights Come On.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about a trip to the mailbox through the last lit moments of the day.

Speaker 1 It's also about bikes being wheeled into the garage for the night, things learned from the farmer's almanac.

Speaker 1 Layers of paint peeling away under your hand.

Speaker 1 And a tender way to be shepherded home and sent to dreamland.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 settle in.

Speaker 1 It's time.

Speaker 1 Turn things off.

Speaker 1 Set them down.

Speaker 1 You don't have to solve everything

Speaker 1 to know how you'll handle everything.

Speaker 1 To be able to have some space from it.

Speaker 1 It's okay if for right now

Speaker 1 you just let go.

Speaker 1 Body heavy and relaxed. Muscles softening.

Speaker 1 Face,

Speaker 1 jaw,

Speaker 1 eyes.

Speaker 1 Eased and ready for sleep.

Speaker 1 Take a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and let it out through your mouth.

Speaker 1 Once more, fill up

Speaker 1 and let it go.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 When the street lights come on.

Speaker 1 This far north,

Speaker 1 the sun doesn't set in the midsummer till after nine

Speaker 1 It made for long days

Speaker 1 and especially on the hottest

Speaker 1 a nap in the afternoon was often required

Speaker 1 Retreating to a quiet bedroom after lunch

Speaker 1 and pulling down the blinds till it was shady and dim,

Speaker 1 settling into cool sheets

Speaker 1 while the ceiling fan circled

Speaker 1 was one of my favorite parts of the day.

Speaker 1 Often,

Speaker 1 even if I didn't sleep,

Speaker 1 I might read for a while,

Speaker 1 doze while listening to some music,

Speaker 1 and just

Speaker 1 let my body rest

Speaker 1 out of the heat and brightness of the day for a while.

Speaker 1 We aren't meant,

Speaker 1 I don't think,

Speaker 1 to just go and go and go.

Speaker 1 As important to me

Speaker 1 as all the things I did with my days

Speaker 1 were all the things I didn't do.

Speaker 1 All the times I refrained,

Speaker 1 I rested,

Speaker 1 I regrouped,

Speaker 1 and on the days I took a break,

Speaker 1 I found myself better able to enjoy

Speaker 1 the end of the long days,

Speaker 1 to be back out in the yard,

Speaker 1 to tie up tomato plants,

Speaker 1 or to go for one last bike ride

Speaker 1 before the streetlights came on.

Speaker 1 Tonight,

Speaker 1 After dinner,

Speaker 1 I remembered I had a letter to mail.

Speaker 1 And while it could certainly spend the night in the mailbox at the end of the drive,

Speaker 1 the red carrier flag flipped up to signal its presence

Speaker 1 for tomorrow's pickup.

Speaker 1 There was a collection box on a corner a few streets up

Speaker 1 and a walk sounded like the perfect way to button up the day

Speaker 1 as I set out

Speaker 1 the sun was just above the horizon

Speaker 1 and I stretched out my arm and measured the distance

Speaker 1 between the bottom of the sun

Speaker 1 and the edge of the land

Speaker 1 just a smidge more than the width of one finger

Speaker 1 which meant

Speaker 1 a few minutes more than a quarter of an hour till it set

Speaker 1 I'd learned that trick from the farmer's almanac

Speaker 1 along with some understanding of the different kinds of dusk

Speaker 1 Did you know that there are different dusks

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 not even just dusk?

Speaker 1 There are three categories of dusk, twilight, and dawn.

Speaker 1 Namely nautical,

Speaker 1 astronomical,

Speaker 1 and civil.

Speaker 1 I was a little surprised that the categories weren't something like

Speaker 1 poetic, nostalgic, and somnolent.

Speaker 1 But I guess

Speaker 1 not everyone thought about the sky like I did.

Speaker 1 The nautical designation

Speaker 1 had to do with when the sun reached a particular position

Speaker 1 so many degrees below the horizon.

Speaker 1 The astronomical type was similar, though the degree measurements were different.

Speaker 1 During astronomical dusk,

Speaker 1 most celestial objects could be seen in a clear sky.

Speaker 1 Civil twilight, dusk, and dawn

Speaker 1 were the shortest version of these times of day

Speaker 1 and often influence things like,

Speaker 1 well,

Speaker 1 when the streetlights came on.

Speaker 1 Looking up at the one closest to me,

Speaker 1 I saw that it hadn't happened yet.

Speaker 1 There were still kids out playing,

Speaker 1 though

Speaker 1 I think even they were winding down.

Speaker 1 The active games of the day

Speaker 1 were turning into quieter activities.

Speaker 1 I saw a few little ones drawing with sidewalk chalk,

Speaker 1 or sitting on porch steps with books in their laps.

Speaker 1 I I could smell spent barbecue grills cooling off

Speaker 1 from that mineral scent

Speaker 1 of sprinkler runoff on hot sidewalks.

Speaker 1 In my hand was the letter,

Speaker 1 a bit of monthly correspondence with an old friend.

Speaker 1 It had taken my last stamp,

Speaker 1 and for a few minutes I'd thought I'd been

Speaker 1 all out

Speaker 1 till I found a book with a single stamp left

Speaker 1 wedged into the corner of the drawer.

Speaker 1 It was a Halloween stamp featuring a jack-o'-lantern.

Speaker 1 With a lit, toothy grin.

Speaker 1 And as I smoothed it into place,

Speaker 1 I'd smiled at it,

Speaker 1 thinking of my friend pulling this letter from the slot in her door,

Speaker 1 and wondering if I'd been trying to send her a spooky message or just run out of stamps.

Speaker 1 At the next corner was the collection box,

Speaker 1 And as I stepped up to it,

Speaker 1 I remembered being a child,

Speaker 1 wanting to be the one to pull the flap open,

Speaker 1 wanting to drop whatever piece of mail we had into it,

Speaker 1 wanting to be the one to do all the things,

Speaker 1 to see how they worked

Speaker 1 and if I'm honest

Speaker 1 I still like it

Speaker 1 pushing down the lever on the toaster

Speaker 1 sticking on a stamp

Speaker 1 pushing the buttons that drop a candy bar through a vending machine

Speaker 1 I hope that makes me more childlike than childish

Speaker 1 But really, I don't care.

Speaker 1 I never went numb

Speaker 1 to the little tactile joys of living.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 there may be some secret there.

Speaker 1 It delivers an extra spoonful of pleasure and interest to my days.

Speaker 1 the collection box was bright blue and by the feel of the flaps handle

Speaker 1 had been repainted many times

Speaker 1 where it was chipped

Speaker 1 layers were revealed

Speaker 1 and in the low light I could just make out the sun faded color of the previous paint jobs

Speaker 1 It creaked a bit as I tugged it open

Speaker 1 and dropped my letter in,

Speaker 1 then let it swing shut.

Speaker 1 When I turned back to the street and extended my arm to the horizon again,

Speaker 1 I could see the edge of the sun sinking into it.

Speaker 1 Dusk would turn to twilight,

Speaker 1 first civil, then nautical,

Speaker 1 then astronomical.

Speaker 1 On my way back home,

Speaker 1 the breeze picked up.

Speaker 1 And the touch of it on my shoulders and face was soft and cooling.

Speaker 1 An older gentleman with a little white dog on a leash passed me.

Speaker 1 He nodded kindly and I smiled back.

Speaker 1 In a yard to one side,

Speaker 1 I spotted a rabbit.

Speaker 1 Its ears laid relaxedly back on its shoulders,

Speaker 1 nibbling away at a patch of marigolds.

Speaker 1 Were marigolds the flowers that my grandmother dried at the end of the season?

Speaker 1 Whose flower heads could be broken open to release a dozen silvery black seeds,

Speaker 1 like tiny matchsticks or slivers.

Speaker 1 I thought they had.

Speaker 1 A block from home,

Speaker 1 it happened.

Speaker 1 The street lights came on.

Speaker 1 Not all at once,

Speaker 1 but one after another.

Speaker 1 A second delay

Speaker 1 in between each one.

Speaker 1 Starting at the park

Speaker 1 and winding its way down the street to me.

Speaker 1 It felt like being called home,

Speaker 1 like being gently shepherded,

Speaker 1 and I liked it.

Speaker 1 Lights were coming on inside houses.

Speaker 1 Bikes wheeled into garages for the night.

Speaker 1 And passing by my neighbor's house,

Speaker 1 I heard him through the screen door say to his son,

Speaker 1 Time to brush your teeth, buddy.

Speaker 1 It made me smile

Speaker 1 and nearly put a hand on my heart

Speaker 1 as I turned up my own driveway.

Speaker 1 Such a tender thing

Speaker 1 to be welcomed home,

Speaker 1 to be guided through the rituals of bed,

Speaker 1 and to be lovingly tucked in.

Speaker 1 My turn next

Speaker 1 when the street lights come on.

Speaker 1 This far north,

Speaker 1 the sun doesn't set

Speaker 1 in the midsummer till after nine.

Speaker 1 It made for long days,

Speaker 1 and especially on the hottest,

Speaker 1 a nap in the afternoon was often required.

Speaker 1 Retreating to a quiet bedroom after lunch

Speaker 1 and pulling down the blinds till it was shady

Speaker 1 and dim,

Speaker 1 settling into cool sheets while the ceiling fan circled.

Speaker 1 What's one of my favorite parts of the day?

Speaker 1 Often,

Speaker 1 even if I didn't sleep,

Speaker 1 I might read for a while,

Speaker 1 doze while listening to music

Speaker 1 and just let my body rest

Speaker 1 out

Speaker 1 of the heat

Speaker 1 and the brightness of the day for a while.

Speaker 1 We aren't meant,

Speaker 1 I don't think,

Speaker 1 to just go and go

Speaker 1 and go

Speaker 1 as important to me

Speaker 1 as all the things

Speaker 1 I did with my day

Speaker 1 were all the things I didn't do.

Speaker 1 All the times I refrained,

Speaker 1 I rested,

Speaker 1 I regrouped.

Speaker 1 And on the days I took a break,

Speaker 1 I found myself

Speaker 1 better able to enjoy the end of the long days,

Speaker 1 to be back out in the yard,

Speaker 1 to tie up tomato plants,

Speaker 1 or to go for one last bike ride

Speaker 1 before the streetlights came on.

Speaker 1 Tonight,

Speaker 1 after dinner,

Speaker 1 I remembered I had a letter to mail.

Speaker 1 And while it could certainly spend the night in the mailbox at the end of the drive,

Speaker 1 the red carrier flag flipped up

Speaker 1 to signal its presence for tomorrow's pickup.

Speaker 1 There was a collection box on a corner

Speaker 1 a few streets up,

Speaker 1 and a walk sounded like the perfect way

Speaker 1 to button up the day.

Speaker 1 As I set out

Speaker 1 the Sun was just above the horizon

Speaker 1 And I stretched out my arm

Speaker 1 and measured the distance

Speaker 1 between the bottom of the Sun

Speaker 1 and the edge of the land

Speaker 1 just a smidge more than the width of one finger,

Speaker 1 which meant a few minutes more than a quarter of an hour till it set.

Speaker 1 I'd learned that trick

Speaker 1 from the farmer's almanac.

Speaker 1 Along with some understanding

Speaker 1 of the different kinds dusk.

Speaker 1 Did you know that there are different

Speaker 1 dusks

Speaker 1 and not even

Speaker 1 just

Speaker 1 dusk?

Speaker 1 There are three categories of dusk, twilight, and dawn,

Speaker 1 namely

Speaker 1 nautical,

Speaker 1 astronomical,

Speaker 1 and civil.

Speaker 1 I was a little surprised that the categories weren't something like

Speaker 1 poetic,

Speaker 1 nostalgic,

Speaker 1 and somnolent.

Speaker 1 But I guess

Speaker 1 not everyone thought about the sky like I did.

Speaker 1 The nautical designation

Speaker 1 had to do with when the sun reached a particular position,

Speaker 1 so many degrees below the horizon.

Speaker 1 The astronomical type was similar,

Speaker 1 though the degree measurements were different

Speaker 1 during astronomical dusk,

Speaker 1 most celestial objects could be seen in a clear sky.

Speaker 1 Civil twilight, dusk, and dawn

Speaker 1 were the shortest versions of these times of day

Speaker 1 and often influenced things

Speaker 1 like,

Speaker 1 well,

Speaker 1 when the street lights came on.

Speaker 1 Looking up at the one closest to me,

Speaker 1 I saw that it hadn't happened yet.

Speaker 1 There were still kids out playing,

Speaker 1 though I think even they were winding down.

Speaker 1 The active games of the day

Speaker 1 were turning into quieter activities.

Speaker 1 I saw a few little ones drawing with sidewalk chalk

Speaker 1 or sitting on porch steps with books in their laps.

Speaker 1 I could smell

Speaker 1 spent barbecue grills cooling off

Speaker 1 and that mineral scent of sprinkler runoff

Speaker 1 on hot sidewalks.

Speaker 1 In my hand was the letter

Speaker 1 A bit of monthly correspondence with an old friend.

Speaker 1 It had taken my last stamp

Speaker 1 and for a few minutes I'd thought

Speaker 1 I'd been all out

Speaker 1 till I found a book

Speaker 1 with a single stamp left

Speaker 1 wedged into the corner of the drawer.

Speaker 1 It was a Halloween stamp

Speaker 1 featuring a jack-o'-lantern

Speaker 1 with a lit,

Speaker 1 toothy grin.

Speaker 1 And as I smoothed it into place,

Speaker 1 I'd smiled at it.

Speaker 1 Thinking of my friend pulling this letter from the slot in her door,

Speaker 1 and wondering if I'd been trying to send her a spooky message

Speaker 1 or just

Speaker 1 run out of stamps.

Speaker 1 At the next corner

Speaker 1 was the collection box.

Speaker 1 And as I stepped up to it,

Speaker 1 I remembered

Speaker 1 being a child,

Speaker 1 wanting to be the one

Speaker 1 to pull the flap open,

Speaker 1 wanting to drop

Speaker 1 whatever piece of mail we had

Speaker 1 into it.

Speaker 1 Wanting to be the one to do

Speaker 1 all the things

Speaker 1 to see how they worked.

Speaker 1 If I was honest,

Speaker 1 I still liked it.

Speaker 1 Pressing down the lever on the toaster,

Speaker 1 sticking on a stamp,

Speaker 1 pushing the buttons

Speaker 1 that drop a candy bar through a vending machine.

Speaker 1 I hoped that made me more childlike

Speaker 1 than childish.

Speaker 1 But really,

Speaker 1 I didn't care.

Speaker 1 I never went numb

Speaker 1 to the little tactile joys of living

Speaker 1 and thought that there was some secret there.

Speaker 1 It delivered an extra spoonful of pleasure and interest

Speaker 1 to my days.

Speaker 1 The collection box was bright blue,

Speaker 1 and by the feel of the flap's handle

Speaker 1 had been repainted

Speaker 1 many times

Speaker 1 where it was chipped

Speaker 1 layers were revealed

Speaker 1 and in the low light i could just

Speaker 1 make out

Speaker 1 the sun faded color

Speaker 1 of the previous paint jobs

Speaker 1 it creaked a bit

Speaker 1 as I tugged it open,

Speaker 1 and I dropped my letter in

Speaker 1 and let it swing shut.

Speaker 1 When I turned back to the street

Speaker 1 and extended my arm to the horizon again,

Speaker 1 I could see the edge of the

Speaker 1 sinking into it.

Speaker 1 Dusk would turn to twilight,

Speaker 1 first civil,

Speaker 1 then nautical,

Speaker 1 then astronomical.

Speaker 1 On my way back home,

Speaker 1 the breeze picked up,

Speaker 1 and the touch of it on my face and shoulders

Speaker 1 was soft and cooling

Speaker 1 an older gentleman

Speaker 1 with a little white dog on a leash

Speaker 1 passed me

Speaker 1 he nodded kindly

Speaker 1 and I smiled back

Speaker 1 In a yard to one side,

Speaker 1 I spotted a rabbit,

Speaker 1 its ears laid relaxedly back on its shoulders,

Speaker 1 nibbling away

Speaker 1 at a patch of marigolds.

Speaker 1 Were marigolds the flowers

Speaker 1 that my grandmother dried

Speaker 1 at the end of the season

Speaker 1 whose flower heads could be broken open

Speaker 1 to release a dozen

Speaker 1 silvery black seeds

Speaker 1 like tiny matchsticks

Speaker 1 or slivers

Speaker 1 I thought they had

Speaker 1 a block from home,

Speaker 1 it happened.

Speaker 1 The street lights came on,

Speaker 1 not all at once,

Speaker 1 but one after another.

Speaker 1 A second delay

Speaker 1 in between each one

Speaker 1 starting at the park

Speaker 1 and winding its way down the street to me.

Speaker 1 It felt like being

Speaker 1 called home,

Speaker 1 like being gently shepherded,

Speaker 1 and I liked it.

Speaker 1 Lights were coming on inside houses.

Speaker 1 Bikes wheeled into garages for the night.

Speaker 1 And passing by my neighbor's house,

Speaker 1 I heard him through the screen door

Speaker 1 say to his son,

Speaker 1 Time to brush your teeth, buddy.

Speaker 1 It made me smile

Speaker 1 and nearly put a hand on my heart

Speaker 1 as I turned up my own driveway.

Speaker 1 Such a tender thing

Speaker 1 to be welcomed home,

Speaker 1 to be guided through the rituals of bed,

Speaker 1 and to be lovingly tucked in.

Speaker 1 Your turn next.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.