The moon tonight is only waxing gibbous, but October 25, only a few hours away for me, is the day when I might see the fully full (Hunter’s) moon where I live. But I enjoyed standing in the street to look at the white globe in its lesser glory, not quite fully revealed. I even took a picture from the spot I often do, with my neighbor’s roofline and redwood tree in the frame. But my camera isn’t really up to the task, so I’m sharing this painting by Ivan Marchuk.
I love to think and consider again and again, the way all the people who have ever lived on the earth have seen that same moon in the sky. I only know how to gaze at it, so I’m thankful for Ivan and others who can magnify its beauty and enlarge my vision of our beloved moon, how it blesses our neighborhoods everywhere.
This beautiful painting is new to me – thank you! I was chatting to my granddaughter while she was walking from her university to the shops in Bodø, Norway, when she gave a sharp intake of breath at the beauty of the just risen moon which became visible as she topped a low hill. How wonderful then to experience further joy in the moon from you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, thank you for sharing that! and giving me that connection even to your granddaughter ❤️
LikeLike
It’s interesting that it’s called the harvest moon here. In fact, this weekend is our annual harvest moon regatta: an offshore race/cruise from Galveston to Port Aransas. I must say my favorite way to experience the moon is offshore. Particularly with a full moon, there’s enough light to read by, although standing watch generally takes precedence over reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I had to read a bit about the Harvest and Hunter thing – thank you for the prompt! The Harvest Moon is astronomically defined as the full moon closest to the September autumnal equinox, and the Hunter’s Moon is the full moon that follows the equinox. It seems that because the lunar calendar is not perfectly in sync with the solar year, they say that the Harvest Moon “slips into September” about every three years, which it did in 2025. Then the Hunter and the Harvest might be the same moon, or the Hunter might end up in November. I won’t remember any of this next fall!
Is your Harvest Moon Regatta always in October? Sounds like it also is not necessarily in alignment with either the solar year or lunar calendar 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you never hear from me again, it will probably be because I was driving down our dark, winding two-lane roads on a night with a full moon, and, being moonstruck, wound up in a ditch.
AMDG
LikeLiked by 1 person
😃
LikeLike
After I post this comment, I will walk outside to see if the Hunter’s Moon is visible. We’ve had a mostly cloudy day, so I’m not hopeful. That’s a beautiful painting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I need to do that, too! I saw the moon not only last night but this morning before it set, so that was nice. So often there are clouds…
LikeLike
Lovely. We were talking about how light our bedroom was as we retired for sleep. That moon really lit up our skies!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try to remember to shut the blinds of my bedroom before I climb into bed at night, but when I forget, and I wake to see the moon out there in the middle of the night, it is a great blessing.
LikeLike