As the biggest and brightest full moon of 2020 snuck her way over the horizon and floated into the atmosphere above our beloved Salish Sea, I stepped onto our back deck to watch as the setting sun welcomed la luna with cotton candy-colored clouds and nebulous wisps of oranges and purples. The twilight kaleidoscope to the west gave rise to a perfectly pink moon in the east – a super pink moon to be exact.
I always find it difficult to capture the magnitude of something like a moon rising with my camera. What makes a seemingly photogenic event like this so spectacular is the enormity of the situation – the entirety of the sky, the land (or sea) beneath it and ultimately the attempt to wrap my brain around the relative size of everything encompassed within such a regular nightly event. In addition to trying to comprehend the standard immensity of last night’s full moon display, the presence of the worldwide pandemic crept into my brain as la luna made her appearance.
As I watched the rise of this 7% larger- and 15% brighter-than-average moon, I began to think about the relative size of everything – how it feels like this pandemic has made us realize how small this planet is and how interconnected we all are. Isn’t that what the moon is telling us every evening as she glides across the night sky? Isn’t this the same moon every single person on this planet is seeing? Actually, isn’t it the same moon every person who has ever lived on this planet is seeing? Is there no better way to remind us humans how small we actually are – and how small we have always been?
When I look up at the moon, this enormous astronomical mass that has been in existence since well before the evolution of Homo sapiens, I can’t help but think of all the other humans looking up at it too. The entire northern hemisphere saw the super pink moon last night – Italians, Spaniards, Indians, Iranians, Americans. The scale of that fact is mind blowing to me. Here we are, currently living through a worldwide pandemic that has us feeling isolated, scared and unsure. But there’s the moon, up there just doing her thing.
We can tell the passing of time with phases of the moon. Our oceans rise and fall because of the gravitational pull of the moon. Many women will attest that their very own bodies are connected to the moon. We – all humans on this Earth – are connected because of this massive rock revolving around us. It’s actually quite comforting to know the moon is still out there. So instead of goodnight moon, I choose to say HELLO MOON!
