Tonight is a very special night, but you probably know it already. Tonight is the last one exactly like it. Tonight, we experience the moon in the closest position that it will be to Earth all year, 17,000 miles closer to us than it is on average. That means it will look HUGE. That means it will be BRIGHT. In fact, it will be approximately thirty percent brighter than the average full moon.
The name “pink moon” has been used to describe tonight’s moon, but this is actually the name of the first full moon of any spring (in April). The “Old Farmer’s Almanac” says the name is “pink moon” because it happens at about the same time that pink creeping phlox blooms in some climates int he spring.
Looking at the moon tonight approximately one hour after sunset, it did not appear as silvery white as when I normally see it high in the night sky. It had an orangey/subtle pink tinge to my eye, even though it isn’t supposed to really be pink. Despite what I see, I tell myself again that it is only called the Pink Moon because of the “moss pink” or creeping phlox bloom that happens around the same time.
Isn’t that the way, though? We see what we want to see. We open our eyes, yet what we see is what we expect to see. C.S. Lewis said it best:
““What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew
Tomorrow I expect to see beauty. I expect to see joy with a touch of whimsy. I expect to see laughter. I expect to see people coming together for a common cause because where I am standing, the world looks beautiful.
“Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes….”
-“Moondance” by Van Morrison
Today IS a marvelous night for a moondance, a cause for a celestial celebration. Carpe diem, friends……….
Carpe Diem with Caye 