If you saw the August Sturgeon Moon, you know what a bang-up show it was.
But was viewing it worth risking life and limb?
I asked this question to Mr. Moon when he popped by my garden window for a chat a couple of nights before the moon bonanza.
“Why would that be a problem?” he responded, nodding to me to put the tea kettle on since he could tell it was going to be a long answer. Mr. Moon knows all my dreams and secrets, which I have shared with him for as long as I can remember. We have two regular meeting places for our visits, the garden window and the kitchen porch steps.
The porch is basically a landing, a small square with steps that go down into the driveway where the trash bins sit. No room for chairs, so I sit on the steps that lead down to the lemon tree for moon show spectaculars. There are no greater friends for moon watching than the lemons who consider their little round yellow selves to be images of the big yellow round guy.
My late husband, who grew up in the Midwest, would say I was “going the long way ’round the barn” telling this story. So I’ll get on with it.
A couple of nights earlier a huge bear, judging by the claw marks he left, and a hungry one, judging by the mess he left tipping over trash cans and digging out everything he deemed edible. Fortunately, I did not dine with him. Nor did he dine on me. I was safely in the house.
With everyone, especially my daughter, telling me that I should not go out on the porch or driveway at night any more, even though I have always been a late night “trash taker-outer,” I had become a bit hesitant about sitting on the steps for the moon show, especially since bears seem to be making themselves at home in the area lately.
So I was wondering if Mr. Moon could shine some extra light on the porch steps that night so it would be safer for me to watch. His roundness looked at me thoughtfully before replying. If the bright light on top of my garage that illuminates the driveway didn’t deter the bear, then maybe adding extra light to solve the problem might be faulty thinking.
He suggested I might find a safer viewing stand.
A few nights later, I watched the Sturgeon Moon show from my garden window while having a cup of tea in my kitchen.
Although I can’t be certain, I’m pretty sure I saw some extra moonlight shining on the driveway.
Email patriciabunin@sbcglobal.net. Follow her on Patriciabunin.com