full moon

Although I long for summer by the time the holidays have passed, I am often reminded how glorious this place is, regardless of the season. I may complain about the monochrome feeling, that it's like going from a widescreen hi-def tv to a 13-inch black and white, but then something happens that shakes me and says, "Check this out."

Yesterday morning I stood for 10-12 minutes just staring at the sky as pale streaks of the aurora danced around. I live right in town, so the aurora isn't nearly as brilliant as in places without street lights and security lights from businesses. It was magical to watch those pale green streaks wave and dance through the sky.

Today's mail delivery was late, so I went out about 6:30 to check on it. As I was coming back in I noticed the full moon in the sky, a brilliant white ball with a few clouds hanging under it. The street lights gave an amber hue to the clouds, and the tree branches and power lines at my property line stood out in the moon's glow.

I zoomed back in for the camera.

I used several different camera settings, then stood and just looked at it.  The first photo was on the auto setting. The second was shot on the hand-held twilight setting for no flash and no tripod.

It's a beautiful night out there.