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To the Moon and Back

Ever since I was a little girl, I kind of had this thing for the moon. My family would be driving home late at night and I would lay down on the back seat -- because safety hadn't been invented yet -- looking at the moon out the window, marveling that it followed every twist and turn we made. The moon during the winter months was especially beautiful. The trees didn't have leaves to obstruct my view. The moon seemed to hang low and was especially bright, like a shiny ball on a Christmas tree. Our next-door neighbor had a wood-burning stove, and the scent completed the scene for me. Nothing could be more beautiful or more perfect.

At a time in your life when you think the world revolves around you, the vastness of the night sky reminds you otherwise. There is something quiet and introspective about the night sky and the moon. Perhaps its phases serve as a reminder that this moment in our lives, too, is just a phase. Perhaps that's because it's the time of day when we slow down, allowing thoughts of something other than our massive to-do lists to creep in.

I admit that as a young adult I took the moon for granted. I stopped appreciating its beauty and admiring its wonder. But then I met my husband. One night, early in our relationship, he called me. He had been outside admiring the moon. He called to tell me get outside and make sure I saw it. Then, many years later and a few years into my yoga practice, I learned a moon salutation. At that moment, my love affair with the moon was firmly cemented. I would check the calendar for a full moon to practice the salutations. I found it to be a very meditative and introspective flow, something I desperately needed at that chaotic time in my life. It offered peace and an opportunity to let go of the day's worries. It was a tonic for the stress of a working mom's life.


The Snow Moon, February 2017

In 2015, I won a Moon Glow necklace from Josephine's Fleur-de-lis. It was kismet. You provide a date and the pendent has the phase of the moon on that date. I provided them with my birthday. Now, I normally don't put much stock in such things. When I read my horoscope, even when it feels accurate, I remind myself how man other people in the world are Scorpios and shake it off. But when I read the card describing people born during the second quarter that came with the necklace, I didn't shake it off. It felt accurate and resonated with me.

Second Quarter

You're a visionary. And, the vision is perfection. Tolerant and detail-oriented, you're the go-to person when something needs to be done well. Being born during the second quarter moon phase makes you: analytical and highly intellectual. You question the answers and will often rewrite them! Your practical approach to life makes it easy for you to adapt to all kinds of people and all sorts of social situations. And you're full of suggestions as to how to improve things -- should anyone ask. You absorb information like a sponge and experience life as an endless quest for knowledge.

Now, each evening, I greet the moon like an old friend. I see it, admire its beauty, and then pause to reflect on my day. As this stage of my life, nightfall no longer signals party hour. Now, it's a time to give thanks for the opportunity of a new day.