Moonwalk

Tuesday night the moon donned a waxing gibbous, blasting its nearly full body through blinds I can never seem to shut tightly, so much do I want the sun’s company during the day, and then the moon’s when the sun’s seen fit to sink below this prized, peak-studded horizon.

I have moons on my mind lately. Maybe because the moon’s been especially bright as of late. Maybe because the moon’s always especially bright here with so few clouds to cloak the sky from necks accustomed to craning upward, eyes eagerly seeking seas of stars.

Maybe because lately I find myself awake during the darkest hours of the much too early morning, my body not rife with the sort of fatigue it’s grown accustomed to needing, my recently acknowledged broken big toe deciding it doesn’t much care for sleeping, and my mind full of light, bathed in happy anticipation.

I lie awake and watch upcoming plans clad in soft orange hues ambling quietly over the horizon. I smile like Carroll’s Cheshire cat as I try to count the myriad more yet to come, dipped in brilliant yellow and gently tickling the nape of my neck. I sit still and listen to steady breathing and memorize beloved silhouettes and think about all the books I’d read if the day would only sprout a few more hours of unscheduled time.

Still, with all the bustling that is forever rustling the golden-tipped leaves of all my favorite trees, my bones are endlessly thankful ones, my skin full to the brim with grateful words and tingly feelings, my feet sure of brutally beautiful trail miles patiently awaiting them just around the riverbend.

—————–

A moon battered into being by another moon was the topic of a cozy coffee-shop conversation with dear friends this past springtime. One I still remember thanks in large part to a charming and incredibly alight nine-year-old who himself possesses an impressive memory and a fondness for storytelling and the Science Channel.

There are similar theories as to how our own moon found itself orbiting earth in a delicate give-and-take I most days forget to stop to appreciate.

I find it comforting, perhaps strangely so, to think something so beautiful and bright and lasting–something so innately essential–can come from something so initially jarring, so unexpected.

—————–

A dear friend with an age chasing mine texted to tell me she’ll be gifted a blue full moon tomorrow for her thirtieth day of cake. I’d no idea of the celestial significance, only the phrase I’ve employed along with countless others to signify a special and presumably rare occasion, a once in a great while sort of story. And indeed it is that.

More specifically, it’s a bonus moon: An additional lunar cycle that will light the sky alongside our typical twelve. It happens every few years, and is the result of accumulated solar calendar days.

There’s something profound and profoundly simple about the sun and the moon making the best team this planet has ever seen.

But lest I metaphor you to death, what I’m mostly trying to say is: What a great while this has been, this is, this continues to be.

A Sea Shanty Of Sorts

I go down. Rung after rung and still the oxygen immerses me the blue light the clear atoms of our human air. I go down. My flippers cripple me, I crawl like an insect down the ladder and there is no one to tell me when the ocean will begin.

The Little Mermaid is the first movie I ever remember seeing in a theater. My dad took us when it was first released and we undoubtedly ate popcorn and Ursula made my sister cry and Sebastian made my dad laugh and Ariel → Read more...

Metamorphosis

Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the fire cannot hear the firefighter.

We electively rose before dawn, eighty fires worth of smoke still poaching our air, sleep still determinedly stuck to our faces. We sat with small waves of nausea as our stomachs realized the time (4am) and the place (no longer asleep). Eggs and tator tots and sausage we ate, merrily but quietly, the three of us thinking about moutains and miles and the day’s adventures quickly approaching.

Mountain → Read more...

Moonwalk

Tuesday night the moon donned a waxing gibbous, blasting its nearly full body through blinds I can never seem to shut tightly, so much do I want the sun’s company during the day, and then the moon’s when the sun’s seen fit to sink below this prized, peak-studded horizon.

I have moons on my mind lately. Maybe because the moon’s been especially bright as of late. Maybe because the moon’s always especially bright here with so few clouds to cloak the sky → Read more...

Into The Great Wide Open

I haven’t told you about what’s happening tomorrow before now because:

a) This week donned its best Hammer-inspired crazy pants and thus b) my words have been spent elsewhere, writing instructions for grant-torch-passing, helping students attack comma splices and encouraging them to write conclusion paragraphs. c) This being very-new-to-me territory, I honestly have no idea what to expect (beyond miles of trails and trials of miles, of course). d) All of the above.

Matt’s written a far more eloquent version of the past week’s → Read more...