Moon – Valerie's Voice

December Light

We woke up to six inches of snow Thursday morning. It’s been a while since that has happened. Last winter Minnesota was practically snowless. The fresh, white snow was pretty lying over the harvested cornfield outside the windows of our new sunroom.

Photo taken 12/20/24. The sun has come out!

It was cloudy when the full moon rose on December 15^th, but I can imagine the scene; moonlight on the field of freshly fallen snow. It reminded me of a poem I read recently:

December Moon

Before going to bed,
after a fall of snow,
I look out on the field shining
there in the moonlight.
So calm,
untouched and white.
Snow silence
fills my head after I leave 
the window.

Hours later, near dawn, when I look down again,
the whole landscape has changed.
The perfect surface gone, criss-crossed and written on
where the wild creatures ranged
while the moon rose and shone.

How much can come,
how much can go when
the December moon is bright.
What worlds of play
we’ll never know
sleeping away
the cold, white night
after a fall of snow.

~Author unknown

(This poems seems to be a rework of May Sarton’s December Moon poem: here is a link to May’s original poem. I cannot find any information on who wrote the words above.)

I like the image of animals leaving their tracks in the snow, as evidence of their nightly esapades. And, I’ve always be attracted to the moon and its tales and lores.

Light breaking through the clouds. 12/20/24

A lot is happening during this season of change…the full moon, the fresh snow, the winter solstice (December 21), which marks the longest night of the year. After Christmas with its many variations of light, after the New Year’s celebrations, after we settle into the new year, the days start getting longer in our corner of the world, and we will be gifted with more light, and that is very good.

Moonrise Twice

On Wednesday afternoon, we arrived at our beloved cabin we rent on Lake Superior, two days/nights after the full moon. I always love to see the full moon over Lake Superior but we do not plan our trips around it…however, a lot of times the dates do work out and we’ve seen the moon rise over the lake many times…I love it!

Since the full moon was only two nights ago we planned our campfire on the rocks to coincide with the moonrise. And…at precisely, 8:01 pm, as posted on the meteorological site predicting sunrises and sunsets, moonrise and moonsets, it, indeed, rose.

However, the unique thing about this evening’s moon rise was we saw it rise two times! It came over the horizon at 8:01 and was gorgeous, a huge orange ball…we saw it come up in its entirety.

However, there was a low cloud in the sky, on the horizon, and the moon went behind that cloud and we could not see it for a few minutes…then lo and behold, we saw it rise again over the cloud for a second moonrise, and this time the moon shone bright and white.

The moon over Lake Superior, September 22, 2021.

What a gift. What a blessing. What an amazing time to be sitting on the rocks on Lake Superior, in front of a campfire, watching the moonrise, twice!

Fly Me to the Moon

50 years ago today, July 20, 1969, the famous Apollo 11 mission allowed the first man to step on the moon. We all know he was Neil Armstrong who died in 2012 and is not here to help commemorate the anniversary of this historic event. Buzz Aldrin was the 2^nd man to step on the moon, while Michael Collins remained in the command module. There are lots of celebrations being planned for the 50^th anniversary, and many remembrances retold and some revelations of seldom told stories.

One story being that Buzz Aldrin carried communion elements along with him to the moon and asked for a private moment to take communion and read a verse from the gospel of John after they landed on the moon.

From Fact Check – Snoops -This is Buzz’s own account of what happened:

“In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.’”

I like that story.

And another very little known story from that era… when I was a teenager I sent a letter to Pan Am Airlines asking to be put on their waitlist to go to the moon. And, believe it or not, they wrote back and told me the wait list was full! HA!

I guess I’ve always been adventurous. I wonder if any airline is taking reservations to the moon at this time???

Mia: Art in Bloom

During the wet snowstorm last week I braved the elements and went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia) for their Art in Bloom exhibit.

This was my first time to see this annual event of floral artistry. I think it works like this: a floral artist submits an idea using flowers and greenery that depicts different pieces of artwork…either sculpture, ceramics or paintings.

When awarded, the artist starts creating their floral masterpiece which is then set next to the artwork. A plaque conveys the artists name and how many times they have participated in this event.