PROMPT: Follow a
route that you’ve already walked for a previous blog, but at a different time
of day. The idea is to get a new perspective on your neighborhood. Compare the
differences between walking the same route at different times.
Most of my time spent out in my neighborhood is between the
hours of 8a.m. and 7p.m. Daytime. I leave my dorm to go to my eight-o-clock
class every morning, and usually come home before sunset. This means that I don’t
see a whole aspect of my neighborhood: the one that comes out at night. Today, I
walked the neighborhood after dusk. The changes are subtle at first, but became
more prevalent after more walking.
In the dorm, not much is different. The core of my
neighborhood remains the same, day or night. As I leave the dorm, the changes
are a bit more drastic. At first, it's just the absence of the bright sun that's different. There are still people around, out walking the streets, but it's not the same people that are out during the day: these are not students hurrying to their next class but social-goers, off to dinner with friends, or to go hang out. I look to my left, and the lights of Downtown Reno
glare out in the otherwise dark sky. It’s almost beautiful: the lights of the
casinos, a beacon of light in the darkness that envelops the rest of the
skyline. However, on the streets it’s a different story. I once again steer
away from the left, avoiding the eerie streets that are more haunting at night
than in the day, regardless of the lights above.
To my right is the University campus. I once again walk the
route of my classes, past Lincoln Hall and the rose gardens, and past Manzanita
Lake. Once again, where unfamiliar territory greets me I turn and walk the other
way. This occurs more often at night: darkness and unfamiliar territory combined
only deepen the unsettling feeling. My neighborhood is more confined to the
areas that I’ve grown to know in the daytime.
The neighborhood at night is quite beautiful; it’s an
unsettling beauty but a beauty nonetheless. It’s something about the bright
lights of the Downtown skyline sharply contrasted by the quiet of the night that
lets the beauty seep out. My neighborhood is considerably smaller under the
cover of darkness, but the harsh beauty of the night shows a side of the town
that isn’t visible during the day.
I really enjoyed the way you wrote this. But in terms of details, I found it really interesting how the first things that were apparent to you in comparing the different times were physical aspects and then turned to the fine details--the changes in mood, people, and specific hot spots.
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