Moonshine

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Moonshine is playing an increasing part in life here at the hermitage. To be fair I'm not talking strong liquor, especially of the illicit kind, although it was such a pleasant evening that Mister E actually sipped on a Negroni whilst sitting out on our patio this evening. I've reached that stage of solitude where simply staring at a glass of wine instantly puts a pound around my waistline, so, in recovery mode from another YouTube fitness video using a Swiss ball this time, I retreated for a shower.

Now, darkness has fallen and I'm looking up at the moon again. It's supposed to be a pink supermoon but, as ever, my imagination never quite stretches further than trying to spot the cheese from which it is reputedly made. It is, however, definitely a full, rounded moon, quite different from the slender fingernail edge of a new crescent moon that must have been two weeks ago. That new moon appeared in the nightsky the evening after we were told about the restrictions on our movements and that emergency legislation was being passed to enforce Staying at Home.

I think it must have been about then that I gave up wearing my watch. I mean is there any point if the diary is empty of appointments and time becomes almost meaningless as a result?

When we awoke this morning Mister E had completely forgotten which day of the week it was, convinced that it felt like a Wednesday. I'm not sure what Wednesdays feel like anymore but I knew it was Tuesday because I could count back the nights since we learned that the Prime Minister had been admitted to hospital.

So many ways to count the days and I haven't even got to the point of making notches on the garden fence.

Of course, it's not just the moon in its different phases that's helping keep track of the weeks, but also the planets. Venus has been in splendid illumination in the evening sky dropping down towards the Western horizon over the last week, a clear sign that we have moved from March to April apparently. If this lockdown keeps going I'm going to be constantly looking up towards the heavens. I wanted a simple life in retirement and it looks as though I'm getting more than I bargained for if I can start to tell the days and weeks from tracking celestial objects. Maybe come 1st January I won't even need a 2021 calendar; now there's a thought, although the way things are going it may only be because I still have nothing to write on it!




Comments

Jennyff said…
I'm glad I'm not the only one going out to look at this special moon and not seeing anything particularly special. I would say its nice to step out onto our balcony late at night and see the quiet streets, but at present day and night are much the same, apart from the dark. Keep safe.
9 April 2020 at 11:40
Caree Risover said…
It’s always an issue of right place or right time and then you think you get it right and there’s cloud cover. That said the memories of seeing an enormous blood moon, Hale Bopp comet and a spectacular Perseus meteor shower do last a lifetime, so like you I always keep looking and one day hope to add another astronomical experience to my miserly tally.
9 April 2020 at 15:01
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