December 20, 2010- Full Moon Shining...

    

     Walking out my back door with the Shih Tzu in tow for her last potty break of the night, I noticed a brightness above and behind me as I emerge from my covered patio to the back alley.  I look up to see one of my favorite sights during my time on the atoll, a full moon! The best place to view it from is the ocean side where it literally makes the reef glow.  These are the nights that avid crab catchers head out to bag some dinner because you don’t even need to carry a light.  On nights as clear and bright as these, I look up at that great orb of light in the sky, and I can almost feel the movement of the earth as we spin on our axis. I’m not the only one admiring the moon tonight. I meet friends on the road who were out riding around for that sole purpose, to gaze upon the moon.  It’s funny; I don’t remember seeing the moon so close up and so brilliant when I was a child or even as a young adult growing up in Alabama.  It’s probably because I grew up in a city, surrounded by street lights and convenience store fluorescence, but I don’t often recall looking upward with such awe or appreciating its beauty even when we were out in the country visiting relatives, and I had a rare chance to see the stars and the moon more intimately.  Maybe that appreciation and awe part comes with age. I know I appreciate the little things so much more today than I ever did in the past, and I know I spend more time than I would like reminding my kids how easy and responsibility free their life is now, so they better enjoy it because it certainly doesn’t get easier just because your an adult and can drink as much soda as you want and stay up until dawn simply because.  Life gets tedious sometimes, as my mom used to tell me, and I can hear my aunt respond with her heavy accent and all her Southern gumption “ain’t it the truth!” But, the thing I am enjoying most about my life as I age is how much more special everything becomes, how much more wisdom and insight you gain if you’re up for finding it, and how a unique peace settles in with that wisdom as you understand what it’s all about. I don’t wish to go back to being a child and to not knowing how hard life can be, but it does make me desire to do all I can to make my own boys’ “growing up” years the best ever!