see, we all live literally miles from each other; with the shelter in place in effect, most of us never see other humans FOR DAYS besides the ones we live with.  so my neighbors decided we should just howl— like dogs— every night at approximately the same time to ‘encourage community bonding and release tension’.

it’s also a useful reminder that everyone is still alive. i’m not sure what we’re supposed to do if we notice a howler is missing.

at least one neighbor suggested, “hey, maybe we should just set up a telephone tree instead” but was soundly called off because “listen, we all moved to the mountains because we don’t want to talk to other human beings, we’re just going to howl instead”.

You know what? I miss it. I miss the Nightly Howl.

My neighborhood evacuated due to the fire. We’re all scattered now, almost lost. We’re in cities that are not our own, and voiceless.

I haven’t heard a single howl. 8 pm is silent now, which is somehow the worst aspect of this. It passes almost without notice.

Someone on the site asked if we could still howl, regardless of our location. Maybe we’d find our neighbors that way.

Maybe I’ll head out to the beach tonight with my dog and howl.

i’m delighted to inform you all that the Nightly Howl is back.  Now that evacuation is lifted, the werewolves are back and louder than ever.  i’ve NEVER heard so many howls, so many voices, and for so long.  Someone even has some sort of horn.

The nightly howl still happens, btw.

Oh, good!