20150927 eclipse of the full harvest moon

Alright, I’m launching into it …

… I am tired of hearing about the “super moon.”

The fact is, the the moon is sometimes a bit closer and sometimes a bit further from us on Earth when it’s full, but to the human eye, it’s generally imperceptible! It’s sad to me that when the media describes the majesty of the natural world, that is around us EVERY DAY AND NIGHT, they feel the need to add superlatives just so people take a second from their day to pay attention to it. That speaks volumes about our culture as a whole, actually, not just the media. I am happy, however, to see people out and trying to see it this evening. That is a positive aspect to the media’s strange “super moon” PR blitz the last few years.

Though I must say sometimes I feel like the person who knew the band before they were famous, but now everyone is going to the show because they were “discovered” and it’s the cool thing to do – and it’s so crowded I can only sit in the back of the venue and there’s a bunch of drunk people singing along, spilling beer on everything, and generally ruining the experience. I can totally understand why artists get depressed when their art is embraced by larger masses who don’t appreciate it for what it is, but rather because it makes them part of a social scene etc.

[that comment was also partially prompted by a shot that I framed tonight after hiking to a somewhat remote area to photograph the rising eclipsed full moon, where I spend a lot of time and it’s typically just me out there with the owls and the coyotes – but tonight, just as the moon appeared, some people on the top of a distant peak that was serving as the foreground for the photo turned on extremely bright headlamps as I was about to take the shots- ha! ah jeez].

So “big media,” you can stick your “super moon” where the sun don’t shine (wait, what? yeah!), and I’ll go ahead and enjoy the Moon however She comes. Guess what? The moon is full every 28 days or so – and it is always a spectacular sight. And in between? Also spectacular. Crescent new moon – half moon – whatever. They are all super in my eyes.

Whew. Ok, sorry, I’m done.

These shots below were taken while the moon was still fully eclipsed, not long after it finally rose above the clouds that obscured its initial rise …

An eclipsed moon is always an eerie yet beautiful sight, and it always feels like my eyes are “thirsty” for light when I view it. It’s a strange sensation. There comes a sense of relief when that first light reappears on the edge of the moon as it moves out of totality.

September 28, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: eclipse, full moon, harvest moon, moon | 2 Comments