“Moon Minding”

Thursday, February 17, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” phase is “Waning Gibbous”; March’s fullest, the “Worm Moon,” rises 3/18.)}

In yesterday’s early evening, I left my horses eating in their stalls, and after packing a few eats and cameras, drove east to the nearby community of Alfalfa. I parked in a spot offering a clear view toward the horizon and settled in with my faux dinner to wait for February’s fullest moon to rise.

As the moment neared, I found a place to stand, viewing the horizon through my cameras. I adjusted them, wishing to capture the darkened horizon’s earliest interruption by light from the about-to-rise “Cold Moon.”

The moon didn’t rise precisely where I anticipated, but the corner of my eye caught its light. I shifted my camera and began snapping the shutter.

The instant of breaking light warms and excites uniquely. That earliest light is stunning, too brief. One must prepare for it.

A rising moon quickly brightens begins escaping what initially seems an almost-hold to Earth.

Just then, a passing driver stopped his car and, smiling big gave me a thumbs-up. He said, “Like you, I saw it, stopped, had to take a picture!”

Perfect strangers sharing a moment of spontaneous joy and warmth.

That’s an example of how much moons can trigger human imaginations and emotions. An easy example is Shakespeare’s works, filled with references to moons and feelings. I can’t help wondering if we’d have equal urges and abilities to write meaningful poetry and fiction without at least being somewhat compelled by our lighted little planet.

On upward, it goes.

In last evening’s clear sky, the moonrise was straightforward, and the uninterrupted full moon above farmers’ fields was stunning. Seeing and capturing were breathtaking.

On a February evening, as if a full moon weren’t delightful enough, a nearby farmhouse strung with Christmas lights glittered cherrfully, giving me second thoughts about having disconnected mine.

I drove back west toward town while seeing structures and mountains highlighted by the setting sun’s alpenglow.

T’was a lovely evening.

It’s a distant sight, but that’s Cold Moon way high above my shoulder. It’s escaped Earth’s “hold.”

Dear Friends: The monthly fullest moonrises beckon all to look, feel, enjoy. Diana