The Moon

April 7

I am thankful for the moon. I enjoy watching it run through its different phases and enjoy a good lunar eclipse.

There are several interesting facts about the moon. The first is the great accomplishment of man in landing and walking on its surface, an achievement which has been used since to show man's ability to achieve a goal for which he puts all his efforts and resources into. This happened during my lifetime and I remember it well on July 21, 1969. Analysis of rocks from the Apollo landings showed that the isotopic composition of the lunar surface was identical from that of Earth and different from other bodies in our solar system, showing that it is likely that the moon and Earth have a common origin, likely perhaps that the moon broke off from the earth. The moon is responsible for the tides, solar eclipses, and is a significant subject in the arts, including poetry, music, literature, and visual and performing art. It represents madness as depicted by the words lunacy and lunatic, which include the Latin word luna for moon in their derivation. It also is a chief theme of love stories and poetry.

Selene was the Greek Goddess of the Moon. Her Roman equivalent was Luna. It is interesting that my graduate research involved an element called selenium, so named after Selene, or moon. In large amounts it is toxic, but in small quantities it has many beneficial effects in biochemistry, including acting as an antioxidant and as a reducer of heavy metal toxicity. I studied its relationship to blood pressure, which it was theorized to lower.

This photo was the result of a phone call from a friend telling me I needed to photograph the moon that night because it was beautiful. A nice cloud cover was lit up by the full moon as seen through these trees. I think it has a kind of ghostly appearance.

the moon in june

the moon in june

is the spooner’s great boon.

© rt tulley