Bright Moon Tonight

I caught this photo off the back deck of our house about 7:30 p.m. tonight. This will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. Wowzer! The reason it's so big and bright is explained below. I got this from another website, so don't think I'm so smart!

We’re in for a treat tonight: clear skies and the biggest and brightest full moon of 2009. According to NASA, tonight’s moon will appear 14% bigger and 30% brighter than some other full moons of the year. That’s because the moon’s orbit is elliptical, and one portion of the orbit is about 31,000 miles closer to earth than the farthest part. Tonight, the moon will be at “perigee”, the closest point to us on its orbit. The effect is most noticeable when the moon is near the horizon.

When I saw the moon sort of floating on this bank of clouds, it reminded me of a poem I learned in school, "The Highwayman." Do you remember it?

The wind was a torrent of darkness upon the gusty trees,

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,

The road was a ribbon of moonlight looping the purple moor,

And the highwayman came riding-- Riding--riding--

The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.

If you want to read the whole poem by Alfred Noyes, here's a link:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-highwayman/

The house smells utterly d-i-v-i-n-e!!! John just made bread. He is the GREATEST bread maker ever! This is 75% whole wheat which we grind ourselves. John makes it so light and fluffy. We just had a nice warm piece with butter and I'm in heaven.