Communing with the Harvest Moon
Moonlight in the High Desert
The most beautiful moonrises occur when the weather conditions are clear, a clarity unique to autumn, or at least the approach of autumn.
In the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, the summer brings a constant parade of beautiful and dramatic skies at sunset due to the monsoon storm season. Still, as September approaches and the relief of cool air, the skies settle down a bit. It’s a big reason why the world-famous Balloon Fiesta is held in October here in the Albuquerque area.
This past week’s rising of the full Harvest Moon was a beautiful precursor to the fall sky soon to be filled with hundreds of hot air balloons. It was made even more special due to the added show of a partial lunar eclipse on the evening of September 17th, with a bit of the Earth’s shadow covering the top left portion of the Moon, looking a bit like a beret cocked to one side.
The following evening, on the 18th, the full Harvest Moon returned, rising like a giant specter over the foothills just north of the Sandia Mountains.
I’m blessed to have an elevated front-row seat to this show from my home in the Mariposa Hills northwest of Albuquerque.
The Moon, in all of its phases, is the skyward messenger who reminds us of how all of nature is guided by the ancient pulls and tugs of orbits and gravity and that we, too, have our seasons and phases.
This is why mankind's imagination has always been captivated by the Earth’s lunar partner in the heavens. There’s always the hint of the mystical and the spiritual cast in the Moon’s otherworldly light and the shadows that fall more gently compared to the Sun.
I wish more people would stop and notice and take a moment to honor the beauty of the Moon. There’s much more to that heavenly presence than meets the eye. A beautiful message of nature and the mystical blesses our night sky, especially toward autumn!
I lived for years in your neck of the woods, Jim, and your lovely words and images really brought that memorable period of my life back to me ...