TOGETHER APART, Under the Lover’s Moon

MOON RISE, MONT SAINT-MICHEL

BLOOD MOON 2022

The satellite presence of a full harvest moon overhead will at times catch our attention when we least expect it.  Other phases of the moon are seemingly less impressive, but that reflective orb is always with us, even though we urban dwellers most often go about our lives without notice.  And the artificial light pollution within our cities terribly reduces the full splendor of every night sky on the planet.

At any point in time, half of the world can view the moon and the other half can see the sun.  That generally implies that most everyone within our circle of influence will be sharing our experience with the constellations at the same time.  The recent celestial event of a full blood moon was viewed by many of us and it occurs when the moon’s orbit places it fully in the earth’s shadow, allowing mostly longer wavelengths of red and orange to reflect back to the optics available to us earth-bound human beings.

Whenever I’m in a position to view a full moon, especially in the fall, my memory instantly returns to a long-ago time in the Georgia mountains north of Atlanta.  My young wife Karen and I hadn’t been separated since our wedding, but my new career involved traveling out to production plants for various projects.  I’m told the area is now a sophisticated location of beautiful retirement and second homes, but not back then.  We visitors stayed in the only motel in the area which was affectionately called “The Hilton”.  When I checked in late one afternoon, I asked for a “wake up call”.  The clerk smiled, reached under the counter for an alarm clock and noted that he closed up at dinner time and besides, there were no phones in the rooms anyway!  However, he did point to a lone weathered phone booth out front in the gravel drive next to the two-lane highway. 

The sun had receded over the mountains by the time I returned from a short dinner, but there was a beautiful full moon illuminating the landscape outside.  Needless to say, there was no problem here with artificial light pollution.   I wandered over to the darkened phone booth out in the cool mountain air and was able to reach my young bride.  We briefly talked awhile under the lover’s moon and I asked her if she could also see its beauty that night.  She replied that she had indeed noticed it and could still view it outside our apartment window in the Kansas City suburbs.

That was the tender moment when we both realized that although we were apart, we could both be together in the same place for a little while.  And although we were separated at the time, we had the expectation of being together again later.  I still believe that our spirits can share that moment every time I pause to reflect on the light of a full moon.

P.S.

The Eagles lead singer Glenn Frey cowrote a song with Jack Tempchin titled Lover’s Moon that ends with these two stanzas:

There's a lover's moon tonight
Shining down on half of this world
So many souls are in its light
But for me there is just one girl

And she's waiting, I know she's waiting
I know she waits for me
Under the lover's moon

 

ACQUIESCING SEASON

 

INVADING ARMY, JAMESTOWN, NC

I was out for a late afternoon "Take Five" drive to nowhere in particular when I crested a hill with a relatively unobstructed view of the sky. An interesting wall cloud of billowing radiant white marshmallows appeared on the immediate horizon and blitzed toward me like an invading army. Within minutes it began to overtake the lowering sun and obscure its extended rays. 

Although it wasn’t as animated, the temperature simultaneously began to drop in lock step with the assaulting columns of vaporous invaders. And within the hour, the sunset revealed a clear, cold blue sky that had acquiesced to the changing season. 

THE GREAT REVEAL AND LIBERATION

 

LEAF REVEAL, JAMESTOWN, NC

We initially talk about cool nights and the beautiful turning of the leaves in October as they anxiously flutter on steadfast branches in southerly breezes.  

But we know that the surrounding leaves are actually revealing their true colors in anticipation of the final liberation that occurs as they break free and fly away on gusting northwest winds!

FIRST FREEZE

 

DRIVING HOME IN THE COLD RAIN

OVERNIGHT AUTUMN RAIN, JAMESTOWN, NC

Columnar rays of the setting sun reflect ice crystals in thin wispy cirrus clouds, giving way to early darkness that now follows us home in the shadows.  A cold October rain and bitter wind brings down spiraling autumn leaves overnight.  The harsh sound of intermittent tapping on a window pane disturbs the subconscious to restless sleep.  

And the chilly anticipation of that first freeze as we awaken in the faint light of a frosty morning evokes a slow shudder throughout the body. 

P.S.

Dedicated to the event of my 80th trip around the sun.
 

AUTUMN’S INNER BEAUTY

Autumn Window, Jamestown, NC

Autumn Spirit

As I glance out of my upstairs office window this morning, my eye catches red splashes of color on the outer fringes of the maple tree that I planted twenty-five years ago, envisioning such a sight for this year.  The annual season of letting go is once again upon us.  If we’re paying attention, nature has much to teach us about life.  There’s a lot of reasons we hold onto things, primarily procrastination.  But mother earth and the maple tree wait on no man and are preparing to cycle through another circle of life.  Man gathers in the fall, but nature scatters wild things such as seeds and colorful autumn leaves.

I’ve always liked the analogy of a legacy which compares planting a tree under which you may never receive comfort from its shade on a hot summer’s day.  But today, I’ve received the blessing of the tree I planted and nursed all these years extending its outer branches to me clothed in a rich autumn burgundy.  A southerly breeze rustles the tree branches and sets the leaves into a gentle shimmering motion.

Overnight temperatures have now started to lower along with less daylight which triggers the tree to slowly begin the process of leaf abscission in anticipation of colder weather to follow.  This time is literally the fourth quarter in the life of a solitary leaf and its also the best time of its life when it shows its true colors.  As the green chlorophyll withdraws, the aging leaves display their maturity and true inner beauty.  The leaves have been anchored to the symbiotic tree and have survived the complete cycle of life while enduring extremes of temperature, high winds, violent storms, and endless days of processing sunlight, water and carbon dioxide for the common good.

The time soon arrives when the autumn leaves are finally released from the bondage of mother earth.  The free-falling autumn spirits joyfully soar in spiraling wind gusts and run with the cars along banked streets.  They’re gathered in piles along urban lawns while laughing children and their four-legged companions excitedly jump into them.  The spirits of autumn enjoy their celebration of life.  

We human souls are inextricably connected to our bodies and are spiritually informed as long as the body actively thrives on this planet. And as with the autumn spirits, we must die to this life so that the beauty of our inner soul may be set free to soar into the next, while our natural bodies return to stardust.

BE CIVILIZED

 

Hurricane Hope

A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead what she thought was the first sign of civilization, expecting the emergence of clay pots or grinding stones.  Mead didn’t mention these basic creations but the discovery of a healed thigh bone.  It was evident that this long-deceased person had experienced a deadly injury that would have most certainly ended their life.  But someone carried them to safety and nursed the individual back to health to thrive again. 

Mead said that “helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts.”  When Jesus was challenged about which was the most important commandment of the over 600 Jewish commandments at the time, he simply asked us to “love God and love others”. 

The prophet Micah wrote in 700 B.C. that God has shown us what is good.  And his expectation for us is to be just, kind and humble.  We human beings are at our best when we help one another.  Especially those who are marginalized and those who are the victims of tragedies that are beyond comprehension such as war, inhumane acts of violent people and extreme episodes of nature like devastating hurricanes, tornados, wild fires, etc.  Those challenging times provide the arena for demonstrating that we still have the capacity for being civilized. 

A DAMP AUTUMN DAY

 

Rainy Autumn Road

The beauty of the dying world around us imparts a poignancy to the scene.  Departing evening shadows grow longer and darker as the nights grow colder.  A full harvest moon shines brightly among overcast skies.  The low valleys are enchanted by the cover of white-frosted morning dew.  The rains fall much lighter and slower as all nature weeps for the impending fallow season to come.  The life-giving flow within all growing plants and trees begins to withdraw to their core as the sunlight also withholds its magic.  “Be at peace” is whispered in the gentle breezes that carry emancipated, colorful leaf spirits in circular dances to rest upon the moist forest floor.  And so begins the slow recycling process of eternal stardust. 

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer have acquiesced to the overcast, downcast, outcast days of autumn. Autumn is the season of the soul.  The time has come once again to pause, reflect and renew.