Saturday, March 19, 2011

In Love With Night


ADDENDUM
The moon is absolutely spectacular.  It looks like a huge lit balloon hanging  in the night sky. Meanwhile on the streets of South Philadelphia, this glorious sight goes largely unnoticed, the sky pierced with the Saturday sounds of boom boxes and obscenities, cell phones and loud engines.  Sigh.


I know that many people are fearful of the darkness and dread the night. They have my sympathies.  If truth be told, I am in love with night.  The sky at dusk and before daybreak holds a beauty that I find captivating.  I've been known to walk into telephone poles on my evening stroll while mesmerized by the Western sky.  The night is not just a time for creeps and thugs to come out.  Some of the most beautiful plants and flowers come alive at night.  The blooms of a moon vine and the sweet aroma of night-scented stock are two reasons alone to look forward to the setting of the sun.  For about a year, I took riding lessons at night and was amazed that the horse could see his way to and from the barn in nearly total darkness.  I might add that he was aptly named Moondance.

Tonight, if only for a few moments, take some time to look at the moon.  It will be the largest and brightest  we've seen in 18 years.  Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, says the moon will be only slightly more prominent in the night sky.  Says Pitts:  “The moon has an elliptical orbit around the Earth. The elliptical orbit produces close approaches to Earth and more distant approaches to Earth called apogee and perigee. The perigee is closer to Earth than it has been in the last 18 years.”


I can' wait.

7 comments:

  1. I am a morning person. Love it, love it, love it. Especially now when I can hear birds singing!

    I will look at the moon tonight - maybe I'll even go to a nearby mountain so I can get a great view.

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  2. I am not a *night person* but I love the night...does that make sense : ) i.e. I don't stay up late but do love the night sky especially at dusk...so silent...so still.

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  3. I'll check it out. Thanks. :)

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  4. We have rain so we'll miss it. Hopefully we'll be able to see it on the news but I'm afraid it won't have the same effect.

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  5. Kathy too bad! That always seems to happen on the night of the Perseid meteor shower. MC and Theresa, I love morning too. Trouble is, my internal clock is not ready for bed until late, but I have to get us so early and I don't do well on too little sleep. If I had the luxury of not having to work, I would remedy that with a short nap every day. But for now I'll have to save that little fantasy for retirement.

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  6. Oh yes...the lovely contemplative streets of Philadelphia. BUT it is a struggle well worth it. Someday, I will be in a log cabin surrounded by nature LOL!

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  7. I went to bed before the moon last night, but I did see it this morning. I stopped my car and took a photo of it... moon photos never work right for me, but I can remember that big bright moon!

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