Thursday, January 16, 2014

!00% of Full

I was walking up a hill last night in the dark — hemmed in by laurel and photinia hedges, by hundred-year-old houses — and was met at the top by the moon, our illuminated dream-keeper and insomniac companion, our endlessly romanticized satellite rising full blaze above the Cascade Mountains and stunning me breathless, stumbling me with astonished wonder.

What we're really seeing is a massive heart of liquid iron encased in an olio of minerals: feldspar,  olivine, pyroxene, limenite. Back this mess of minerals up 238,900 miles, shine a light on it, et voilà: our grand dame of nocturnal beauty.

Of course, I didn't consider the lunar mineral content until today, when I decided I wanted to write more than just:

 O behold! 

photo by David Hutchinson
The latent scientist in me does battle with the poet, every day.

2 comments:

  1. Our nights are almost like days. Plenty to go round.

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  2. One of the most beautiful posts in every way. As one who loves the sciences and the arts and the art of science, I commend thee heartily.

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