Moonshadows

In Uganda, walking home at night from a fellowship or from a friend's house, my eyes would always seek out the moon. Sometimes lying like a slice of rind on its back, sometimes a huge round disc, casting a bright aurora, sometimes rising in front of our house and in other phases behind it, above the giant craggy trees back up there on the hill. I tried to photograph it several times, but they never really came out. Because there is hardly any artificial light in Uganda (a sore subject...), the night sky is so very black so that the moon and stars shine out in glory. But here in England, whilst not so intensely bright, the moon is also stunning, peaceful, unmoved, mysterious, comforting...

I love the moon. I love that it belongs to our earth and circles around it, over and over. It is like a benign presence, overseeing us night after night. I was open-mouthed, like a child at a magic show when we were in the Space museum in DC once and saw real rocks from the very moon itself, lying on black cloth. I would jump at the chance to go there - please may it be possible during our lifetime, and not for a million dollars!

 In Uganda I used to point out to whoever I was with, that in the southern hemisphere, the moon has a rabbit in it, a large one with its ears flying back. But here in England, in the northern hemisphere, it has a face. Today I will prove it once and for all, with two photos from Google:




Face...  

Rabbit...











Until today I hadn't realised that the man in the moon looks pretty shocked about something, but you can stretch it to look like a smile...

Anyway, Alex is doing space at the moment and has to make a moon diary, drawing it in all its phases this month. What a great project. Tonight is a full moon, sailing over the rooftops of Gloucester. I tried again to take a few photos and will put them here, but once again they are just a feeble attempt...

In this one, you can see the face, and he looks happy, I think.