The Flower Moon Chase

Thursday, May 27, 2021   (June’s full Strawberry Moon rises in 28 days, on the 24th.)

Last night’s pink Super Moon, scheduled to rise after nine p.m., sent us Moon Chasers out on the road to hunt a viewing place. The moon was to rise later than usual, and already the evening was semi-dark. Susie, who’s in charge of the driving and technical details, was prepared, knew exactly where the moon would rise. We hoped to capture it’s earliest visibility.

Using a compass to navigate, Susie pulled into a couple of potential viewing spots and assessed their viewability based on her hiking and biking experience. She drove away from a couple of spots, and finally, we wound up maybe 30 miles east of town.

Our viewing spot was way out, with Susie’s car parked on a remote dirt road and pointing directly toward the unimpeded, distant horizon. We sat waiting, surrounded by flatland and low brush. The only ambience was a lone juniper.

The terrain tilted upward, and for us this caused the moonrise to occur several minutes later than scheduled. We already were out of the car and pointing cameras, to begin shooting at first sight of an emerging beautiful light.

Of course, this Flower Super Moon, circling very close to Earth, was visible throughout the city. We chose to sight it from the boonies to increase our joy. After chasing moonrises to photograph them, we know the increased excitement of anticipating changes in the horizon. It’s sheer fun to sight barely above the line of horizon, a major moon’s earliest appearance.

Isn’t this incredible!

Photographers in action.

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And wearing our Moon Chaser red jackets!

Dear Friends: Farewell to 2021’s last special Super Moon, and ahead, many beautiful full moons. Diana