I followed the partially hidden moon as I made my way outside to our recycling bins. At 11 PM, the night was cool and with no-one else in sight, I felt free to have a bit of a roll around in some fresh air.It fascinates me that an orb some 234,885 miles from earth has always held me in its thrall. As a kid, I would watch from my bedroom window as it rose in the evening sky, following it for as long as I could before clouds obscured it. I loved that its shape and color could change with the days and seasons and that authors and others I knew would write about it. The second generation to enjoy Goodnight Moon, often read to me by my grandfather, by middle school I used many of my regular trips to the library to discover more about moonrises, moonsets and lunar affects on tides.
While Margaret Wise Brown's book features a bunny who says goodnight to everything in his room before going to bed, including the moon beyond his window, the only part of that habit that stuck with me after toddlerhood was the desire to see the moon every night, a ritual I kept for myself no matter location or country.
Now, it is not uncommon for me to keep an old set of opera glasses at the bedside for the desired peak before bed.
Cheers!
