Moon musings

The moon made me late today. I forgive her, though, because she’s one of those charming, alluring creatures you simply can’t stay mad at.

In an effort to counter my stressful “just-squeaking-in-on-time” tendencies every morning, I got out of the house two minutes earlier than usual today! But as my feet hit the pavement after descending and cautiously navigating the front steps in the pre-dawn darkness, my eyes drifted toward the east, as they habitually do. I stopped mid-step as a gasp escaped me. There drifted my little Luna, putting on quite the show.

The crescent waning moon hung mid-way in the early morning sky - a sky that had just lightened to a steel gray in the east. Cornflower blue chased at its heels, while the rest of the heavens remained a murky, swampy black. But, in that patch of gray blue, and juxtaposed by the surrounding black, the resplendent moon hung like a jewel on a diadem. And kissing that moon, on its right cheek, was the most beautiful, brilliant point of light. The morning star – a planet to be sure – rose just high enough to create a near-perfect convergence.

If this wasn’t stunning enough, this beautiful formation was outlined by a halo of glowing white. The wispiest of fog or cloud veiled the moon and its star companion and reflected back the spherical moon’s light in a perfect glowing circle. It was as if a spotlight shone on the moon and her paramour; I fancied the heavens wearing a supernatural, celestial lunar medallion.

I stood, dumbfounded, taking in this pre-dawn show for a good while, offsetting those two minutes I had earned in rushing my morning routine by skipping eyebrow pencil and concealer.

A thick layer of ice on my car and getting stuck behind a slow-moving trash truck ensured that I, indeed, clocked in late today.