Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now

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The moon, there when you need it

The day before the smoke from Eastern Oregon’s wildfires smudged the Eugene sky, I saw the moon in the morning, on the wane in its unglamerous phase between full and half, known as gibbous. That Latin word isn’t the one I’d have chosen. If I were the boss of English, it would be the belly moon, a friendly, funny, relaxed word, a word that invites you to settle in.

I love the daytime moon almost as much as the nighttime one. When it was full last week, while we were camping, it was so bright you didn’t need a flashlight to find your way. It cast sharp, long shadows of the pines up around Waldo Lake. Night shadows and moonlight, what a pair.

Today, hidden in our region by smoke from horrific wildfires, it’s officially this moon’s last quarter. Tomorrow it’ll be waning crescent. Knowing it’s there, always there whether I see it or not, is an anchor I hold onto regardless of what’s happening on the noisy, fraught and sometimes perilous ground.

Photo by Susan Palmer

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2 responses to “The moon, there when you need it”

  1. blueboatmom Avatar
    blueboatmom

    I know there’s a good reason to refer to the moon as waxing or waning, but also just be with it in its current phase, and to find the “friendly, funny, relaxed” way to see it, rather than “unglamorous”. Just like in life, we are waxing and waning, toward something, away from something, but also here in our “exquisite now”. All should be honored and enjoyed.

    Reply
    1. supalmer Avatar
      supalmer

      So agree. Enjoying the moon, whatever its phase, is lovely.

      Reply

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