Finally...

I got my medical yesterday morning (second class, since the FAA is being generous this season), but didn't use it until last night: I needed night currency (when I was a Sport pilot, night currency was moot, since Sport pilots are limited to Day VFR). This was real night currency, none of this full-Moon-on-a-snowy-evening stuff. Last night had no Moon and there was a lot of smoke around, even though the visibility stayed above 10SM the whole time.

The winds were all over the place so it was hard to fly a square pattern, but I managed good touchdowns. After two stop-and-go landings I switched to touch-and-goes, knowing that my final landing would be the third full stop.

When the tower closed I switched to left traffic and the wind was pushing me toward those unlit hills to the East. Since I was only "staying in the pattern" I had not rigged my handheld GPS with its terrain display. I don't need a terrain display, but having seen it (and verified its performance against some known threats) I know that my procedures plus the terrain display is more comfortable than procedures alone.

Fatigue set in after about an hour and I landed. I enjoyed the airport silence while I tied the airplane down. I drove home, listening to jazz. Just what an evening should be.

Finally.