What a Glorious Moon Last Night

K.C. Cowher 01-09-10 BFE

What a glorious moon last night. Not a cloud in the sky and the air almost as clear as interstellar space. It rose with a pearl silver luminosity that made even the tiniest twigs cast shadows as if in daylight. So intense the moonlight was that it even challenged the household lighting and shown through the windows, almost as if trying to reach those inside, calling to them. Curious, and intrigued by the rarity of the event, I succumbed to its invitation. The family was fast asleep and tucked in for the night. There would be no requests for Daddy, or Husband until morning. Also, unlike others, the outside at night for me is a place of comfort, it does not fill me with dread of some ancient fear. So, I went out into the night, to see, and feel, and experience the moonlight. Stepping outside I was instantly bathed in silver white light from the orb hanging in the sky. To look at it you could even pick out some of the features on its surface. The intensity of the moonlight was such that when looking away an after image remained in your eye momentarily. Someone, I forget who or where, once told me that the full moon is the size of a quarter held at arm's length. This night I would disagree with them. The moon hung there in the sky overwhelming all that was around and beneath it. Tonight there was an ancient magic in the air. Venturing further from the house into the backyard, closer to the woods my senses came alive and tingled with anticipation. The shadows of the trees and bushes shortened as the moon slowly climbed towards it's equivalent of high noon. The clear night air carried with it scents that are normally unnoticed. The earthiness of the soil, the mix of pine and other foliage were all evident. But there was more as well. My skin responded to every whiff of air. Every hair on my body was as if electrified, reaching and pulling signals from the world around me. Sounds became heightened and crystal clear, no longer muffled. With every step my body reveled at the sensations of sight, smell, sound, and touch. Walking silently down the back access road into the woods I continued basking in the moonlight, absorbing every bit of its energy that I could, while also rejoicing with my senses at abilities long forgotten and dormant. The sky, the trees, the plants, and the earth, even the very air, all spoke to me and I welcomed their return never realizing how much they had been missed. Messages and signals came to me as clearly as a radio station properly tuned in. A shadow here, a sound there, an odor from behind those trees, an electric surge felt on my skin. So pleasurable and intense were these that I almost missed something.

My nose caught it first. A musty, sweat scent on my right, but in front of me. Then my hair and skin tingled as well, picking up on a presence there in the darkened woods. Yes, branches heard moving, there, further down the edge of the woods along the road. Stopping, I waited motionless, reaching out with my senses. Slowly, cautiously, but in a lumbering kind of way, a black bear emerged from the dark. It raised its head to sniff the air from side to side, then looked in my direction. It knew I was there. Not anxious or afraid, my breathing and heart rate stayed slow, calm. It was after all just a bear. It continued to look at me and I returned its gaze. Then with a bob of its head and sniff of the air it turned away from me and looked back to the woods edge, and made a quick bear grunt. Slowly, from behind it, out of the woods emerged a second bear, smaller, almost a quarter of the others size. It came onto the road on the far side of Momma, got halfway across and stopped. Then it too raised its head, sniffed at the air and looked in my direction. It started to move towards me, but a quick low growl from Momma and a nudge with her nose guided him to the woods on the other side of the road. With the cub safely in the underbrush Momma again looked at me. Strangers meeting by chance, neither wishing harm, we spoke, and she knew this was my place as well as hers. Then, with a sway left to right and a bob of her head she turned and followed her cub, disappearing into the woods. I stood motionless for a few moments. Again reaching out with my senses, relishing the sensations and the world around me. Turning, I headed back the way I came. At the small crest in the road just as it enters our yard my Shadow materialized from under some bushes. Obviously confused by my nocturnal presence he greeted me with meows of question. Some soothing words and appropriate rubbing behind the ears told him all was well. In apparent concern he looked up at me, blinked, and headed off towards the house making sure that I was following. Reluctantly I did. As we neared the back porch he rubbed against my leg and I petted him in return. Satisfied, he meowed once more then disappeared, as cats do, into the night. The moon was now three quarters of the way across the sky, and I knew the spell was broken. Gazing around me one last time I took in the world around me, reached out and felt my surroundings, closed my eyes and inhaled deeply of the night air. Then slowly, disappointedly, I climbed the back porch stairs to the warm glow of the house. Wishing silently, and hoping, that the magic wouldn't go away.