When I took this picture I thought the world was collapsing, like it normally does on a night like this. Then I realized it will always bounce back. It might not make the sound, but we all know the gentle giant sleeps...well, gently. The earth shifts beneath our feet. He turns over when lying in the grass to view his mother. He smokes a cigarette, pretending to purse his lips together to see if he can move around without the cigarette falling. At dinner he walks out of his earthen jar and sits at a table made of mountains to feast on the trees and snowcaps quench his thirst. It is too bad he cannot be more rambunctious with his time. I admire his strict regiment and healthy diet. I do not admire his constant love for timed destruction and untimely death. But these come so few and far between that I cannot have anything but the deepest, utmost respect and love for him. Why, the latter barely comes but once and if done well, with respect and honor, we would not even feel it because of the extraordinary moment when sky hits ground and we all fall down. A child's game prefaces the smoke of all horrors with such innocence and freedom. I have to admire that. If he can do that then I do not see why we should ever question the ground we walk on. I think he has a solid ground beneath our feet where rocks and dirt extend from his skin to create a cushion for us. If I were to lie down at this moment I wonder if my positioning would be the exact same, aligned joint for joint. Even the rock in my back, as I wait 'til it intrudes so far it no longer hurts, is similar to the rock in his back as he lays on top of the mountains staring at the stars. Is he blocking my view? Is that why the glints are barely visible. I know his width is mighty, but at times I think he is sleeping on his side no longer caring about the same things I am. I am not sad. We are all enjoying the show. My smile reveals barely yellowed teeth, probably from years of soda pop and sugary candy. His from millennia of rotten animals and vegetation as well as the natural aging of his own body that shows when he opens his mouth to greet me and whisper good night.