FULL MOON - Friday The Thirteenth 2014
Thursday night I was driving home around 9:15pm and I saw the moon rising in a lavender sky. It was huge and almost full. I was mesmerized and wanted to share the beautiful sight. I actually thought the moon was full at the time - it certainly looked like it was. When I got home I saw many posts on Facebook about the Friday The Thirteenth full moon and how we won't have another one for many years. Certainly not in my lifetime.
Friday night I Googled moon rise in our area and discovered it was occurring at 9:28 in Medford, Oregon. Since we live just north of Medford, I assumed the moon would rise in the Grants Pass area about the same time. I suggested to my partner John that we go and chase the rising moon.
Grants Pass is at a relatively low elevation compared to the hills surrounding the city. In order to see the "really big moon" one must travel somewhere else. Our own home has a hill behind it which makes the viewing of the newly risen moon impossible. By the time we see the moon it is relatively high in the sky. And high in the sky means a small full moon. I wanted to share my giant newly risen full moon with John.
At about 9:10 we gathered up our dog Annie and got in my car and we headed for Merlin which is a town just north of Grants Pass. Once in Merlin we could turn around and head South on I-5. Merlin is at a higher elevation than Grants Pass so my mission of seeing the newly risen huge moon would be accomplished as we drove into town.
Once we got to Merlin we parked in a bank parking lot and listened to a Cirque Du Soleil CD while we waited for 9:28 to occur. Annie was in the back seat and sort of paced back and forth on the seat. I'm sure she was wondering where the music was coming from and why we were sitting in a car and not moving at all. At 9:30 I started the car and headed for I-5. As I drove down the steep hill heading for Grants Pass we looked in the sky and saw - nothing.
When we reached the north exit to Grants Pass - exit 58 - we debated about returning to Merlin or just driving up Highland Avenue (which is also a hill leading in and out of town). We opted for Highland Avenue.
Annie takes puppy classes at The Canine Club on Highland Avenue so we drove there and turned around in their parking lot. Then we headed back into Grants Pass and looked at the sky and saw - nothing.
At the base of Highland is Club Northwest. We drove into their parking lot and sat there for a while - staring at the sky and hoping for a hint of a glow on the horizon. (The horizon in this case are hills that border Grants Pass in the East.)
Once more we decided to venture onto Highland Avenue hoping for a glimpse at the rising moon. We turned around in the Canine Club parking lot two more times. We laughed about a neighbor seeing us and calling the police. "Hello - there's a red car driving back and forth on Highland Avenue and we're worried they are casing the area." Would the police believe we were just chasing the moon? Lucky for us - you can't call the Sheriff in this area. We don't have enough funding for the Sheriff to answer the phone after normal business hours.
Finally we saw what looked like the moon - but there was a thick bank of cloud right next to the hill where the moon was rising. Darn it. I wanted John to see the really BIG moon rising. The lower you can see the moon in the sky the bigger it appears. Darn it.
Then we saw it. There were cloud strips in front of it - but you could see how big it was. And it was beautiful. As we drove back into town we saw it at various intersections. We also figured out that even though the moon rises in Medford at 9:28 - the hills around our city make the moon rise later, by about an hour. We finally reached home at 10:45.
Was it worth chasing the moon. You bet it was. We laughed. We talked. We were quiet. The evening was gorgeous. It was a treat to see the waning light from the sun change the colors of everything to mostly shades of deep grey and black. And then there was the moon. The big wonderful huge Friday The Thirteenth Full Moon.
When I was little I used to sing a song:
I see the moon and the moon sees me
And the moon sees somebody I'd like to see
So God bless the moon and God bless me
And God bless the somebody I'd like to see.
In this case the somebody I'd like to see was sitting next to me sharing the moment.
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