Altitude and Azimuth of
the Moon on January 27, 2016, 3:00AM, per Astronomical Applications Dept., U.S. Naval Observatory
Altitude = 52 degrees
Azimuth= 215 degrees
Fraction Illuminated= 0.89
Four days after its fullness
The waning moon delivers 89 percent
of its full luminosity
When full, it rises with the setting sun,
each night afterword
it moves about an hour’s arc eastward
until at three o’clock this morning
a brilliant moon shown
from 52 degrees altitude
and 215 degrees azimuth
I care not about its azimuth
but I set my alarm for its altitude
Out my window at the bell
clear sky revealed the waning moon
beaming as predicted and seemed
waiting for swish of skis
on four feet of snow
a foot of which was new and soft
Nordic skis called restlessly
and to the woods I went
trees and snow clear as in daylight
swish and crunch of skis
Silent when I stop, cold and cozy
alone with the moon
an essence of something more
Pictures require long stops
set tripod, set delay, 20-second-open-shutter
all without gloves in cold morning air.
I was led to the opinion that
my angular factiness of pursuits
keeps too cold a distance
from the spirit world
that seems close
in a mystical night in the woods
in rare moonlight
ReplyDeletetrees slip on long shadows
like skis
as if the woods might slide
cross country
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
You mean I got my facts wrong and the trees were slipping on their shadows and the woods were sliding on stars and will reach home soon after I do?
DeleteYou ladies are so delightful! You, Sharon and Kathabela. I feel continuous privilege to know you, to witness your poetic lives, your wit and whimsy, to wander in the moonlit skies and the tree-shadowed snowy hills ~ my how you travel the mind, the heart, the expansive sky of everlasting, on-going, eternally delicious TIME ... ah, such an illusion, this time thing, but bottled in that illusion is de-light that you both radiate. I appreciate YOU ~ thank you for inviting this Starshine into your world. You keep me smiling, giggling, laughing like a Ten Year Old. Let us hold hands and skip into the sunset barefoot and fancy free (not in the snow though) hee hee (added a little rhyme, just in time)
ReplyDeleteYes Junnie and Kathabela, let us join hands and skip around the sunset or Lake Arrowhead. Maybe both, not difficult for tenyearolds.
Delete