Talking to the Moon

The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.  –Carl Sandburg

Last weekend was a lonesome couple of days.  The men in my family headed south with a bad case of Mahomes fever.  It was perfectly understandable—the Chiefs’ young quarterback is taking the NFL by storm with his quickness, his yards/game, and his touchdown passes.  I love it when a star is born.  I also love when a star shines on the rest of us—and that would be our star, the Sun!  Our star shines on us here on Earth and also on our Moon.  Do you know what a selenophile is?  A person who loves the Moon and finds joy and peace of mind from the Moon!

I worked outside in the sunshine for most of the day, cutting back hostas, raking leaves, and pulling the wilted, sad-looking vegetable plants out of the garden.  Dozens of cherry tomatoes that had not ripened or were not harvested squished under my boots.  Only the carrots and a few cold-hardy lettuces still looked green and lively after the freezes.  It had been a good year for tomatoes, green beans, and lettuce, and I felt a deep satisfaction for all the meals our small garden had provided.  As evening rolled in, the not-quite-yet-full Moon rose through the pine trees.

It was a beautiful evening.  No wind, not too chilly, a shining Moon.  I decided to make a campfire for myself, so gathered some wood before it was completely dark.  The previous week’s rain dampened my chances for a roaring flame, but with small logs, pinecones, and some newspaper, I soon had a respectable fire.

The sun sank below the horizon, now so far south in the western sky.  The trees stood bare and black against the soft colors of the sunset.

As I sat beside my campfire, I felt a little silly for doing this by myself.  I missed Chris.  I missed the kids.  I missed my faithful companion Tamba who always loved to lay at our feet when we had a campfire.  It was just me and the Moon.

When all those feelings and thoughts of loneliness, missing someone, and being alone impinge upon our mind, body, and soul, our first reaction seems to be to do anything that distracts us from those feelings: social media, tv, music, phone calls, exercise, eating, drinking.  Just don’t let me feel those feelings!  It causes discomfort, and I felt it as I sat by myself by the fire.  I even thought of a bunch of things I should be doing instead of sitting there alone.  ‘Working’ is a great distractor.  But the night, the fire, and the Moon implored me to stay, welcomed me into the natural world, and calmed my discomfort.  “Of course you are missing your family and Tamba—they are such an important part of your life.  Chris and Aaron are having a wonderful weekend and will love to tell you all about it.  It was a beautiful day, and you got a lot of work done getting ready for Winter.  You are stronger now than you’ve ever been,” said my friend.  Even in the darkness, the star’s light shined down on me.  “Touchdown!!  The Moon and De-nise!”