Celestial Bodies

The Hunter’s Moon rose on October 24 and I was fortunate to see it rising over Lake Michigan.  Moon rises always provide a much-needed perspective.  I got to the lake about 6:45 and the moon was already above the horizon.  When I go home from work I dressed for cold – kept on my tights, added jeans, cashmere, under armor, and a mustard colored 90s down coat, headband and gloves.  I knew the breeze off the lake would be cold.  I also, brought beer and scotch.  Threw in some beach chairs.  My friends had arrived to see the moon begin its journey so by the time I got there they were all leaving, due to that cold breeze.  I ended up drinking a beer by myself sitting on the dock staring straight at the moon.  Loved everything about it – the sound of the waves and the fact I could barely hear the planes, the smell of the lake, the light, the cold (since I had dressed for it), the solitude (though if my friends were still there that would have been a fine alternative), my memories of other moon rise and the sense of celestial time.  When I returned home I could visit the moon from my back porch.  To top off the event I sipped a wee bit of that scotch before I put that bottle away, like an old lady in a stone house in the Outer Hebrides.  I checked for the date of the next full moon- the Full Beaver Moon is November 23, Thanksgiving night.

That night a friend wrote, “I love that we’re just a hop and a skip down the road from these opportunities to connect to the universe.”  Tonight, as I check out the moon as it rises behind the cottonwood tree I am reminded of this piece I finished a few months ago.

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