October Moonrise: One of the Wonders of the World
A few nights ago as I stood on this lovely hilltop I call home, I was witness to one of the seven (thousandmillion) wonders of the world, an enormous pumpkin moon rising over the hills in the east. It happened to be the birthday of two dear friends and as I pondered birthdays, and life ticking on, the rising moon was a visible manifestation of time passing. I could see the earth turning as the moon rose, at first a slim sliver, a sweet slice of cantaloupe resting on the hills to the east, but within minutes the moon was fully birthed, a shining coin, a golden pumpkin. And there I stood, a lucky little map pin, on the spinning globe of life. There are few opportunities to truly feel ourselves resting on this whirling home we call earth. Watching the moonrise is one of those awe-inspiring moments where we become aware of the grandeur of the universe. I’ve had a similar feeling watching the sunrise through sleepy eyes from the tiny window of an airplane after a restless eastbound redeye. It seems you can see the curvature of the earth as the plane catches up with a morning already bustling just in the distance. From up above you observe the future; you are, for a moment, a Greek god high above the jostle and gyrations of humankind. Looking out over the crashing waves on a north coast beach, watching the water roll in from beyond our vision and our imagination gives a similar sermon; we are just specks, in the flow of time, a mere grain of sand in the universe. To some this may seem a forbidding, gloomy take on human existence, but to me it is liberating. I am not Atlas with the earth on my shoulders; I am just a spec of sand sharing this moment with the sand fleas and the seaweed with nothing better to do than seek the next wonder of the world revealed in the spaces between sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset.
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Valerie Komkov Hill
The moon always inspires me to wax poetic, especially at the full, and we have been blessed with really great moon views lately.
Bonnie
Lisa, your “visual/verbal journaling” ranks up there in my book with Mary Oliver! Having just purchased her little collection titled “Why I Wake Early” on a trip to the Northwest and our first son’s 50th surprise birthday party last weekend, I was struck by the synchronicity of your post with pumpkin moonrise and morning redeye vision. Yes, the stuff of wonder!
Thank you again and again for sharing this. Bonnie
lisathorpeartist
Bonnie, thanks for the extravagant praise for my prose, I love Mary Oliver! I am honored to have you as a reader.
Calen
Ah, Lisa. Beautiful. Thanks for the reflection. I love feeling like a lucky little map pin, and I’m excited to tuck that lovely phrase into my pocket!
lisathorpeartist
Calen, I glad our map pins leave pin pricks at the same longitude and latitude some times, it is richer for sharing it with you. Lisa