the moon

we were given a reprieve at work last night. at 2230 (10:30) they offered undertime until 2400 (midnight). that meant i could leave work officially an hour and a half early, and without using my flex time. utterly meaningless to most people, i know, yet full of promise for me. it meant not having to talk to anyone else about schedule changes or their mother's bursitis flaring up "so i gotta get a flight out tonight and why is the fare so high don't you have any bereavement fares the other airline is two dollars less and can get me out fifteen minutes earlier..." jebus, save me from your followers. and he did. or luck did. or res planning did.

i realized, while wandering out to my vehicle, that the sky was clear and the moon was full. i love a full moon. granted, if you are a stargazer, as i am, the full moon is like a 400 pound, 7 foot tall loud-talking-cell-phone-using asshole sitting in front of you at the movie theater...a nuisance. it blocks out all the stars around and dims the ones you might be able to see otherwise, except that light pollution on the horizon, or trees, take care of the rest. since i live in the big city-ok, the city limits-i don't get much-really, any-time for stargazing, so that wasn't on my mind. what was on my mind was the most mundane of things-going home and cleaning.

i kept looking out of the truck window on the way home and noticing that i could see most everything quite clearly. the normally dark golf course was lit by the moon. houses, trees, the road were all bathed in the moonlight. i decided to take a drive.

i drove out of the city limits and into the country. i turned onto a road that had very few houses and was mostly open pasture. the moon's effect on the landscape was mesmerising. i started imagining if people who lived without electricity knew how lucky they were to be able to see the land glowing in the magical moonlight. probably not. they didn't know any other way. still, it must have been a beautiful sight to behold even to the ancients. certainly mysterious. i resisted the urge to turn off my headlights and navigate by the light of the moon. i've done it before but ever since my friend mike werner told me about his getting busted by the cops for the same thing, i've been wary. i enjoyed the blueish glow of my surroundings a while longer and then headed for home.

i was surprised that everyone was still awake. my wife, amy, and our youngest daughter, eowyn, had apparently had an altercation. amy was mad and eowyn told me that her mother was being like cinderella's stepmother. now i was embroiled in a situation not of my making. we all went to bed. i read to eowyn and before either fell asleep she and her mom had a short talk, a hug and a kiss. all was well again. i told eowyn a story about the princesses and santa. she fell asleep sometime shortly after i started, but i finished it anyway. i wanted to remember it so i could tell it again. the moon, however, was forgotten. i didn't clean either. oh well.