10.15.2010

Moon Set? You Bet.




I'd tell you where this is, but then I'd have to kill you.






A sunset like this one makes me laugh at my own attempts to create art. Why try to paint this? Or photograph it? Or write a poem about it? If this short video is only able to capture a small fraction of the overwhelming beauty and intense emotional impact of this moment, then what hope do my brushes or my camera or my pen have?

As if this display of breathtaking gorgeousness wasn't enough...

On this particular evening, the sunset was followed almost immediately by the setting of the bright orange crescent moon.



I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. Even my camera freaked out a little over it.


Double-Rainbow Guy: (sobbing) Double-moon!!! What does it MEAN?!!





I had the camera sitting on a rail, so these odd shots aren’t from an unsteady hand on my part...




Ahhh... Nothing's more relaxing than watching the three moons of Romulus set into the Beltar Nebula...

My theory is that the camera, like me, was super-psyched over this once-in-a-lifetime performance by mother nature and needed a minute to collect itself. That's fine, DMC-ZS3. Take your time...




That's better. Although the moon went down much more slowly than the sun, it still seemed as if the two were playing a game of tag. On this evening, Mistress Moon hung around for less than an hour. What could have prompted her to rush off like that?



Maybe the tides were making mischief on the other side of the world, and the moon had to rush off to crack some tidal skulls.




Maybe the sun drove off with the moon’s purse on the front seat of her fiery chariot, and the moon had to chase her down for it because her cell phone and house keys were in there.




Whatever it was that made you have to rush away…


Goodnight moon.

Sorry you had to leave so soon.




5 comments:

  1. Like it? LOVE. By way of thanks for lovely blog, I bring you this equally happiness-inducing-if-totally-contrasting-with-the beauty-and-grace-of-your-post...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6insZjCfU

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  2. gasp!

    yes. sometimes it is just right to (hush up!) be quiet and soak it all up. completely.

    thank you.

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  3. I would die happy if the secret was revealed. God's handiwork at it's best.

    I love the whimsey of your moon chasing sun story. The images were much like a small dog running and jumping through tall grass, then coming to a complete stop. Pure joy.

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  4. My fiance, her daughter and I were coming up the coast from the neighboring county. Was a picture perfect day. We watched the sun set just north of the county line and then caught sight of the orange sliver moon at a vista point north of a lighthouse.

    I had never seen anything like that either. Dark fog racing above the ocean while the last remnant of the sun's light made the sky look altogether eerie. And drop in the sliver moon and it was just the most stunning setting I have ever been privy to be enveloped by.

    We watched the sliver moon set north of the catholic cemetery.

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  5. Thank you for the link, Whitesocks! What a giggle! And thank you for the kind words about the blog.

    You, too, Laura and Annie - this moonset was truly a heart-stopping moment.

    And Annie, you get your wish! I'll reveal at least PART of the location because if I'm not mistaken, e. and I saw the same moonset.

    e., this was in Elk, just south of the Catholic cemetery. In fact, on a clear day you can see the cemetery from where I'm shooting the photos, out there on the point to the north.

    I am so JAZZED that you got to see this, too. I still can't get over it - the way the fog was acting over the still, still water... Pushing in and out from the shore like it was breathing... Then, as you mention e., the sunset was spectacular. THEN, when I thought there was NO WAY I could be more floored by what I was looking at - there was the setting of the crescent moon over the fogbank. Whoa.

    I still get goosebumps when I think of it, and it's particularly awesome to have shared the experience with one of my fellow bloggers, even if I didn't know it at the time. FANTASTIC, e. We are SO LUCKY.

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