{"id":573,"date":"2013-06-23T18:37:21","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T22:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/?p=573"},"modified":"2013-06-23T18:37:21","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T22:37:21","slug":"the-dark-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/the-dark-night\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CoverX300_TwentyYearsInTheCaribbean_CaribbeanIslandStories\"<\/a> One night on the road up to the hotel a couple of years after we moved to Dominica, Margie and I had a frightening experience.<\/p>\n

Unlike the United States, nights are usually dark in Dominica. Although moonlit nights seem brighter than those in the states and the stars on a clear night seem brighter it is probably because there is seldom any other source of light.<\/p>\n

Electricity on the island is supplied primarily from small hydro installations in the Roseau Valley. Internal combustion engines of some magnitude pick up the peak loads and supply a few of the outlying areas. Roseau and a couple of other towns have some street lights, and reasonably well illuminated shops and houses, but the rest of the island seems to almost disappear at night. Small light sources can be seen here and there in the country areas but people who have electric service usually rely on one small wattage bulb. Where there is no electric service the reliance is usually on a kerosene (locally called paraffin) lamp and Dominicans almost always close all wood shutters at night. On most nights few vehicles move after about nine p.m..<\/p>\n

When we moved to the island this darkness seemed eerie to us but we soon became accustomed. Driving at night on narrow winding roads with frequent hairpin turns and blind corners might have been quite hazardous, but they were relatively easy because oncoming vehicle headlights gave more than ample warning.<\/p>\n

The four mile-plus uphill road from the town to our hotel was one-vehicle-width incorporating twenty-one bypass places. In the daytime it was essential that one travel slowly because another vehicle might be coming. When two vehicles did meet it was necessary that one driver or the other know the nearest passing spot so one could back while the other followed to the place.<\/p>\n

When going up the road from town the sheer cliff was on the right and the valley, with its hundred foot-plus drop off was on the left. Trees festooned with epiphytes and vines covered the road with a delightful tropical canopy. It was a beautiful daytime drive.<\/p>\n

One night, however, Margie and I were driving home from the club when the vehicle battery’s ground came loose and we stopped dead. Instant blackness engulfed us.<\/p>\n

We had no flashlight, match, or cigarette lighter, so we sat there for a few minutes trying occasionally to breathe life back into the car with futile attempts at twisting the key in the ignition. I had no idea what had caused the failure. Nothing worked, and at that time of night it was unlikely that any vehicle would come up or down the road.<\/p>\n

We had been talking so neither of us could remember exactly where we had stopped, or how far we had to go.<\/p>\n

We could not see each other sitting side by side in the car.<\/p>\n

“Are we going to have to sit here all night, do you suppose?” Margie asked, sounding wistful.<\/p>\n

“Our eyes should become accustomed to the darkness after a while. Let’s wait and see.”<\/p>\n

I began to make out some differentiation in the darkness. I could tell the parts of the front seat and see the form that was Margie’s. Soon I thought I could barely make out the whiteness of the gravel on the road’s edge, though I was certainly not sure. I looked straight up but I could see no stars; this could mean clouds or vegetation cover.<\/p>\n

I recalled from US Navy Flight Training that we were supposedly able to fly over and detect a totally blacked out town from just starlight, but there was no star showing now. I recalled that we had been required to wear red lensed glasses for a period before going into the training session. This was the adjustment time. It seemed to me that it was about two hours. I also remembered something about utilizing the cones (photoreceptors) of the eyes and looking slightly away from the place you wanted to see.<\/p>\n

We were eager to get home, but were afraid to move far from the safety of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

For another twenty minutes we waited.<\/p>\n

“I’ll go out and see what it seems like. You stay here for a bit,” I said. Oddly, we found ourselves whispering.<\/p>\n

We have the British left-hand traffic pattern on the island and the driver is on the right side. I was on the cliff side and got out of the car. Then I promptly stepped down into the wet, shallow drain that followed the cliff where it met the road. I said “Damn!”, with much emphasis, and stepped back up on the inside verge.<\/p>\n

“Oh! What happened?” Margie asked anxiously, still whispering, adding “Please, be careful.”<\/p>\n

“The drain against the cliff is full of water and I stepped right in it up over my shoes.”<\/p>\n

“Gee, Honey, that’s a tough break.”<\/p>\n

Using my pocketknife I managed to fashion a walking stick from a roadside sapling.<\/p>\n

I could make out the car now as I moved around to Margie’s side.<\/p>\n

“I can see more now,” I said, “but I’m not comfortable with this situation yet. I am going to try walking up the road a bit and see how it goes.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t like that idea much,” she answered.<\/p>\n

“Neither do I, Honey, but I’ll be very careful.”<\/p>\n

I had not paid all that much attention to the paving and design of the road before, but now I carefully probed and examined everything, mostly by feel. The road was not well paved, but there was a pot-holed black top on the center eight or so feet and on the ravine side the blacktop ended in a small amount of light colored gravel. Past that there was a sloping grass covered verge that went into nothingness. I found a rock and tossed it a foot or two further out and heard it hit a hundred feet or so below. If I did not know it had to be about a hundred I would have guessed two or three hundred. It was very disconcerting.<\/p>\n

I moved up the road on the right hand side, reasoning that if I fell, it was better to fall in the shallow drain against the cliff than off the outside and down into the ravine.<\/p>\n

I went ahead about ten yards using the walking stick to good advantage but it was slow going.<\/p>\n

I thought of how blind persons rely on such sounds as my stick was now making on the various surfaces; smooth on the pavement, scratchy on the gravel, and silently with occasional snares on the verge’s grass. If it stuck on something unexpectedly the adrenaline surged through me.<\/p>\n

I was reasonably sure that we would have no more than a mile to go before reaching the Watten Waven village store where I was certain that I could buy or borrow a torch-light to use in the last half mile to the hotel.<\/p>\n

I was just about to turn around and go back to Margie when I began to see more of the road. I looked up at the sky and saw that the trees were less dense and the stars were shining brightly.<\/p>\n

I backtracked to the car and told Margie what I had in mind.<\/p>\n

“I’ll get some light at Ma Nicko’s store. They will be closed but she and Nicko live just in back. Then I’ll come back for you.”<\/p>\n

“No, you don’t! No way am I staying here alone. If you are going to fall off the cliff I’m coming too,” she said, getting out of the car.<\/p>\n

We set out cautiously, at a snail’s pace.<\/p>\n

We had walked the road in daylight and it was a climb, always uphill, but our pace now was so measured that we hardly noticed the incline.<\/p>\n

We finally reached the village. It was late and we were now seeing more of the road. The village was in a small valley and contained no roadside ravines so we decided to press on without disturbing the Nickos.<\/p>\n

At the end of the road was the hotel, brightly lit, though just its night-lights were on. With all the wonderful light our tenseness left us and we picked up our pace to a fast and happy stride.<\/p>\n

“Just imagine what this would have been like if we didn’t know that Dominicans are all right,” Margie said.<\/p>\n

“Yes, indeed! What if that happened back in Florida in some of those nifty neighborhoods? Or, how would you like to be broken down on some of the streets in New York City?”<\/p>\n

“Well, this wasn’t fun by any means, but we could have just snoozed in the car until morning and we would have been in no danger. It was inconvenient and annoying, but it sure didn’t have to be dangerous.”<\/p>\n

“For a while there, I would have disagreed with you, but it all worked out. I’ll sure appreciate the lights more now.”<\/p>\n

“And carry a spare torch-light!”<\/p>\n

“And carry two spares.”<\/p>\n

We both laughed.<\/p>\n

We climbed those last steps to our warm, well lit, familiar house, tired but relieved to be home. Those bright electric lights were now, indeed very much more appreciated.<\/p>\n

After that night Margie always carried a small torch in her handbag and does to this day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One night on the road up to the hotel a couple of years after we moved to Dominica, Margie and I had a frightening experience. Unlike the United States, nights are usually dark in Dominica. Although moonlit nights seem brighter … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":678,"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inkprov.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}