I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me…
…God bless the moon and God bless me. Mom used to say that to me all the time at night…
I love the moon. I wanna say that’s no secret. For many of you it isn’t. But for just as many you’re saying, huh? It’s sort of one of those things that you kinda have to get on a certain level with me… I don’t wanna say a certain level of closeness, but more like a certain *kind* of closeness, b/c I know I have a lot of very close friends who don’t really know about my obsession with the moon. But most girlfriends would know what I mean… friends I tend to have the more emotional ties with… I dunno, maybe it’s sort of a “weaker” side of myself that I don’t always let out. (So why am I telling you?) I imagine it being a bit of a curse for WHN. I really don’t know how she looks at it now…
But anyway… the moon. It’s not a scientific interest. It’s not intellectual. It’s purely esthetic. It’s the glow, it’s the shape, the clouds drifting in front of it. It’s the way it lights up back roads, the panoramic exaggeration — how the expanse of the land oddly elongates & stretches out in front of you. It’s the mood, it’s how beautiful she looks under that blue filter…
So I grew up out in the country, right? Kinda out in the boonies, but it’s all relative. People ask me sometimes, who did you spend your time with growing up, what did you do? Well as a kid in the sticks, playmates can be limited, so imagination is key. & thank God (and mom & dad) for dogs. My buddy Cooper — the greatest dog of all time — remained my best friend as I got older too. Through middle & high school Cooper & I would walk at night a lot. We’d take off through the fields & just walk for hours in the middle of the night, under the moon, thinkin, talkin… I don’t know if mom & dad knew we sneaked out. Not a lot of trouble to get into out there anyway, I guess…
Our adventures out in the dark are another series of stories altogether, but looking at the moon tonight (it’s a clear night here, with an almost full moon), it made me think of those nocturnal journeys and how different the world is, how beautiful, how sharp your eyes are when they adjust, the boost in your hearing, the confidence you feel knowing your protector is with you, somewhere in the brush, even though you haven’t seen him in ten or fifteen minutes; he came to my rescue on more than one occasion.
And here I am in the city. I still spend a lot of time with dogs — & I wouldn’t have it any other way — and of course the moon is still here, but it’s not at all the same. Yeah, I can pretty much walk Maeby anywhere at any time of day or night (I pity the person who tries to mess with me when she’s around) but what I wouldn’t give to go back and take a midnight walk out in the country, with no light but the bright harvest moon. *That’s* what it’s like to grow up in the country. That’s what I miss.
I find myself taking a lot more time to enjoy the moon lately. Often on a stressful day I’ll look up at night (as I try and stop Clooney from barking at the neighbors) and marvel at its beauty. I love when the moon is so bright you can almost see halos around it (or maybe its city pollution). Number two fav is when the full moon is orange against a midnight blue sky. I feel a sense of peace when I stare at the moon. It helps to remind me that there are more important things to think about as opposed to what I’m usually thinking/worrying about (did I do a to-do list, will my client like the birthday gift I sent, what if I miss that deadline, etc.). And last, but not least, it reminds me how awesome and wonderful our Creator is.
I hope you kids have been staring at the moon the past several nights. It’s been beautiful…
Happy Harvest Moon, everybody. Except you, Neil. Not until you apologize to Skynard.
I spent a lot of time looking at the moon tonight. I was driving back from church with my friend, Nikki, when we both noticed it at the same time. And so we pulled over and had a nice, in-depth talk under the moon. I’m usually a crescent moon fan but tonight’s moon was great. Why is it that some of the best talks take place under a cool moon? I love that.
If this is how good the full moon (Sturgeon) looks this month, I really look forward to next month’s Harvest moon… Enjoy it tonight & the next few nights. Weather looks clear.
I forgot to post this…but my mom said that last night there was a full lunar eclipse. It didn’t start until midnight but given how awesome the moon looked last night I’m sure it was pretty fantastic.
Actually it was really amazing. I haven’t really paid attention to stuff like that..but a friend pointed it out last night. It’s pretty sweet to take a late night/early morning walk when that is going on if you can stay awake. I may be paying for it today but it was pretty sweet and we got really cool pics.