NIGHT OF THE SUPER MOON

I'll be working for the month of July in Washington DC some two hundred and fifty miles from where BIANKA is moored. So I've only been able to be on board on the weekends, But, I have been lucky last weekend I got to enjoy the fireworks that were postponed because of weather the night before. Tonight I got to enjoy the rising of a full moon. But, not just any full moon a super full moon. A moon noticeably larger than others due to it's proximity to the earth. I was not disappointed:

Though any full moon I observe when I'm on board BIANKA results in a pinch me moment and remembrance of this quote from the book The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles:

“Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.”

It always reminds me to appreciate every full moon that I see.

KING HARVEST HAS SURELY COME

Corn in the fields.

Listen to the rice when the wind blows

cross the water,

King Harvest has surely come.

The Band

I was back on board BIANKA and was just finishing a glass of wine after watching the sunset and was thinking of going into the cabin for the night. Then I had a pleasant surprise as I turned my head to the east. A bright orange full moon was rising over the docks next to the mooring field. It's the Harvest Moon. The moon closest to the autumn equinox which allowed the farmers to continue to harvest well into the night because of it's light. The sight of the full moon rising called for another glass of wine. I thought about Neil Armstrong the first man to set foot on the moon who died last month. I also again think of the words of Paul Bowles:

"How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.” 

While one can never know how many full moons one will see in ones lifetime. Every one that I see when I'm on BIANKA always makes me happy.

BACK ON BOARD JUST IN TIME

I have been off BIANKA for a month. For three weeks I was working in the wicked city of Washington doing a free lance work gig. Following that I spent a few days on the beach in Amagansett Long Island with my girlfriend. She enjoys walking along the beach and I stare at the ocean wishing I was out there on BIANKA. With that all behind me I was glad to finally get back on board. After opening the hatches and unloading the dingy it was time for a swim, nap and drink at sunset. My pleasure was enhanced later in the evening when I glanced to the east and saw a beautiful full moon rising over the harbor:

Because I had been off the boat for the month and I had been working and staying on land I had not been paying attention to the tides or the moon. I had been working inside during the day and also spending the nights indoors too. That's why it was such a pleasant surprise to see the moon show up as it did and once again I was glad I was on board BIANKA to see it. Again, the words of  Paul Bowles come to my mind every time I see it:

“... we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.”


I am always glad to see a full moon rise when I am on board. It is such a simple thing but, I appreciate it so much. It just makes me feel good I was able to see it once again.

A MARVELOUS NIGHT FOR A MOONDANCE!

 On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.
"The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look."

and there is another reason to enjoy this entertainment from the universe as Paul Bowles reminds us:

“... we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.”