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The Moon appeared now and then when a break in the clouds opened patches of clear sky. In the Moon's ghostly light the sea appeared like a silver-painted patchwork without a trace of color. It created the appearance of a primordial setting in which the sky and the sea were one as if they had melted into each other.
It struck me as odd that there is never any color in the moonlight. I wondered why. Didn't the moon reflect the same sunshine that we see at noonday? It occurred to me that we might need much brighter light to see the colors of the world. The same also seemed to apply to the face of love. Its colors all too often become hidden in the dim.
I loved the peaceful atmosphere that one finds at the seashore in the dark, the sound of the waves, the salt air, and also the moonlight among the clouds. I didn't mind the dim this time. I understood the real world and the splendor of its coloring that bursts forth in the brilliance of the noonday in a profusion of wonders. It was sufficient for the moment to see the sunlight reflected merely on the tiny face of the moon and to know that even this tiny refection was enough to brighten the night enough to bring light into it. In some cases the tiny reflections seem to be enough to inspire romance as in the case of the Count in Mozart's Figaro.
I puzzled over the paradox that Mozart had laid before us. He had bid us to rejoice in the fullness of universal love, even if society is too poor to have a place for it in its daily living. Heather's letter reflected that paradox. I felt that the Count in Figaro would have rejoiced to see how richly in color and light our love had unfolded, Heather's and mine, even if its unfolding ended in the way Mozart's opera closed, with a concession to the conventional in the dim of the moonlight.
There was a great beauty in the peace that came from this kind of pondering and from the listening to the surf.
Ushi had gone to the desk by the telephone to read Heather's letter, where a reading lamp had been provided. "Heather had been fighting against herself," Ushi's voice came thinly from the room. "Heather couldn't see any other option but to walk away and let the world follow its time-trodden course."
"Yes, and I was too stupid in my 'infancy' in these matters to offer a solution," I added to the thought. "Mozart appears to have reacted in the same manner in the way he lets the Figaro opera close. I wonder if he would write the ending differently today. Indeed, I wonder if Heather's reaction too, would be different today if we had a second chance."
"Don't blame yourself for what happened," Ushi replied in a soft tone. "I can imagine how Sylvia would have reacted had you brought Heather home with you as your friend and lover and invited her to stay in your house until she established herself in Pittsburgh. Any wife would be emotionally devastated by such a confrontation. I think that if Mozart were to compose his Figaro today he would still have to consider what society is willing to respond to openly. With this in mind, I think he would have closed the Figaro opera the same way today as he did two centuries ago. But why should this be a problem. Mozart presented the brilliance of universal love, and left it up to society to carry forward the continuation. This communications was enough. It was a job well done. However, I do expect more from you, Peter. I also know what you would be committed to today. And so, to answer your second question, I am convinced that you would find a way to make this work with Heather and Sylvia, to open your home to Heather for as long as she would need it."
"I might be tempted to do this, of course," I replied. "Ultimately we will have to make this sort of thing possible. Also, we've got to make the breakthrough soon, even if we mess up along the way before we get there. The Ice Age schedule, to the best of our understanding, leaves us 100 years, maybe 150 years, to create our New World. So, we are in a race against time to get started. That means that every step counts. And as you know, we've taken quite a few steps already. Beyond that a few things have also started moving in Russia. You simply can't guess what I've already helped to set in motion in Russia during the conference."
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