Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Have you seen the moon?

Have you seen the moon?

I don't know why but I'm obsessed with the moon and it's phases, and particularly taken with the full moon. Or maybe I do. I remember when I was about 13, we went to Myrtle Beach and it was the first time I'd ever seen the ocean. (Well that's not quite true. I know at some point when I was very young we went to the Jersey shore with Grammy Marion once. I couldn't have been more than 5, and I don't remember the ocean: just the salt water in my mouth, getting sand in my eyes when we shook out the blanket to leave, and being glad to leave.) I know I've told this story here before... how the moon was full and slung low on the horizon, reflecting on the heaving skin of high tide. I was awestruck. Not just speechless, but so completely enamored that even my mind went blank. I felt, for the first time in my life, as if I was where I belonged. I don't suppose that makes sense at all (as if anything going on in the mind of a 13 year old girl makes sense) but it was almost spiritual to me. The effect has lingered for more than 2 decades.

I've never recovered - never kicked the addiction. I'm a beach lover and a moon worshipper, and unapologetic for both.

So the moon is one of those things I check nightly, like normal people check the weather, or the price of their stocks. Funny thing is, I don't have to look at the moon to know when it's waxing full. I can read the phase with my own moods. For a day or two before the full moon I'm weepy and ill-tempered. For the full moon, I'm ridiculously happy and content.

This month, several things lined up to make for particularly severe mood swings and overall emotional chaos. The full moon starts tomorrow (today now, technically) and I'm looking forward to having a few days of contentedness, with the holidays, the tension, and the PMS behind me. I'm going to bask in it. But then, I always do.

Did you know that this month, we only miss a blue moon by 2 days? A month with 2 full moons. That would be awesome. Can't wait until May.

So, have you seen the moon tonight? I don't know what it's like where you are, but here, it's unbelievably clear, and the moon is just a hair from full, and true to form, I'm feeling content.

Thank you Selene.

1 comment:

  1. The moon was full at 5am this (Tues) morning. Funny, I just logged in to check my moon phase calendar to make sure, because it's spectacular (Clear and cold here), and everyone is acting a little nuttier than usual, and when I saw that it's 100% full as of 5am, I just clicked over here thinking I'd ask you if you'd been gazing, because I remembered about you and the moon. And you've seen it, and somehow that makes me feel a bit warmer on this cold northern night.

    :-)

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