Teachers and nurses can sense the changing moon phases. Little ones' energy grows with the waxing moon, and labor and delivery nurseries are noticeably filled a bit more quickly on days surrounding the full moon. I've been witness to both in current and past careers.
I don't consider myself an astronomer, but I remember taking comfort from the stars and night sky at an early age. As a military BRAT, they were the constants as my earthly landscapes changed through multiple intercontinental moves. Maybe that's why I'm still drawn to the full moon, pulling me outside even in chilly weather to catch a glimpse of that bright, yellow-white, pock-marked circle in the sky.
I breathe in the night air, the light energy beaming through tree limbs. Laughter is coming from the park behind my house, or perhaps another yard; I can't tell, my gaze held by the moon. I play with the settings on my camera, trying to capture the moment of moon and clouds, framed by the silhouettes of tree branches and sloping rooftops.
I know the pictures won't do justice to this nocturnal vignette. After a few shots, I put the camera down, and take a few moments to breathe deeply once more, watching the clouds pass over the old man's face. The chill finally settles into my bones, and I scuffle inside. I will go to bed happy tonight, knowing we are all slumbering under the same full moon.
(All pictures taken by Christine Margocs, copyright 2018.)
Full Moon in Virgo by Christine Margocs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
I love how your piece moves from large to small. Drawing readers in with that big idea of the power of the moon on all of us and ending with this beautiful intimate sentiment: "The chill finally settles into my bones, and I scuffle inside. I will go to bed happy tonight, knowing we are all slumbering under the same full moon." Beautiful photos as well! Having tried many times to capture the power of the moon in a photo I want to compliment your efforts. Thank you for an inspiring piece!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mrs. Scannell! I try and get out under the full moon each month. I find it to be a centering practice, a meditation of sorts, looking up even for just a few short moments. I'm always a bit sad when cloudy weather gets in the way of a good viewing. From the technical standpoint--these were taken with a Canon SureShot set in "long range" mode. I also messed around a little bit with the exposure settings, so that I could get the foreground to appear as well.
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