Night Fall (A Visit to Another Graveyard)

Night Fall: One of the photos I took last night

Even though I didn't work last night I couldn't sleep; it's difficult to adjust from weekend graveyard hours. It was a cold, rainy night so what else to do but don my parka, hop on my bike and head out to take photos for a hobby album I am working on called "Night Fall." After a few hours I got a bit wet and chilly and so pedaled over to the South Avenue Market, an all-night convenience store and gas station on the east side of town.

I met a nice, smart, interesting guy named Josh working the graveyard there. I explained to him that I had been taking photos all night and needed to warm up and have a snack. (I bought a sesame-seed muffin and an Arizona green tea with honey.) We ended up standing out front, under the overhang and out of the rain, swapping graveyard stories. I told him about my "Tales from the Graveyard Shift" blog. He had a few good stories of his own.

He recently started working graveyard on weekday nights because his construction work had slowed down and he's a single father who could use the extra income. We shared similar stories about early morning hunters stopping by and, it turns out, he is a fellow nimrod who, like me, seems to love and appreciates the wilds, wilderness, wolves and grizzly bears. I told him about Backcountry Hunter's and Anglers, the Montana Wildlife Federation (for which I served two terms as president) and Hellgate Hunters and Anglers (a group I helped start). He was interested. I hope he gets involved; we could use more conscientious, conservation-minded hunters fighting to protect, restore and sustain the wildlife and wild places we all cherish. 

After awhile he said he had to get back inside, back to work and finish his nightly duties.  I understood and could relate. If nothing else, I can now swap graveyard stories with the best of them! 

And perhaps I just might now be one of his graveyard stories.