moon watching

Live in the high mountain desert for a stretch, and you'll become fast friends with the moon.  It's hard to go a day without experiencing at least a sliver of the orb in a place where a cloud rarely obstructs the sky and the horizon stretches on and on and on.  Live on the edge of a vast lake that weaves blankets of cloud and fog across the sky, and you'll go for days, even weeks without catching a glimpse of the moon.

Since leaving the desert, I've kept a lunar calendar on my refrigerator.  Each year the same simple calendar -- a card, actually -- serves as a reminder of the moon's whereabouts on all of those days of cloud cover.  These thirteen lunar cycles condensed onto a page have been a bit of a touchstone, keeping me connected to the rhythms around me.

Last week I happened upon Alec Thibodeau's lunar calendar over at Tiny Showcase.  This amazing letterpressed piece made my heart quicken.  It made my cheeks flush.  You must look at the detail.  When I realized the print run had sold out I was crushed.   I've thought of that piece everyday since, feeling as if the plain little black-and-white card that has marked the moon all these years would no longer suffice.  Then I saw the moon tonight as I left work.  A just past new moon silver sliver hanging just above the horizon.  It became immediately clear that while there's surely magic in Alec's calendar, the real magic is to be found in the sky.  And I knew I'd be just fine.

Comments

[emily]

brilliant. it is so grounding, the cycle of the moon. like a gravitational pull, or something. i love the card on the fridge. where does it come from? (and yes, the letterpress version is super cool, but you're so wise to see where the real magic lies.)

[Amber]

Oh, I saw this sliver of a moon tonight and just commented over on Knitting Iris' blog about this same topic. I love watching the moon and I'm so glad to see it again now that I'm in a drier climate...

[nessie noodle]

a friend just got me the "moon maggy" to put on my frig.
but I do love the surprise when I look up and see the moon in her various states of dress-

[Bev]

did you take the photo of the moon? It looks amazing. wow.

[jane]

ah, la lune ~ it's always up there, somewhere, quite often hiding but always, always magical when we're able to sneak a peak. lovely post . . . i so love the moon.

[Chelsea D.]

amazing-a sparkling reminder of when I lived in the high desert.

[Marnie]

In the course of a conversation my mother mentioned that she'd always wanted a skylight so that she could sleep in the light of the moon. i never knew this about her...it's always been a desire of mine as well, to have a bed in the light of the moon.....