Is it possible to ski after class, when class ends at 4:50 and it's January?

Yes, with some help from the moon.

Moonrise on the prairie.

(Enlarge.)

At the Moonrise Café...

(Enlarge.)

... you can talk all night.

"They say that all good things must end someday. Autumn leaves must fall."

Equinoxiously yours,

Chad and Jeremy

P.S. It's the Super Harvest Moon tonight.

Sunset, moonrise.

Tonight, on Lake Wingra.

I blame Bush.

The moon is shrinking.

Clearly anthropogenic.

Obama cancelled the new moon mission partly "to make sure that we’ve canceled everything George Bush wanted to do, whether it’s the right thing to do or not."

Says Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon in 1972. But the main thing is "the Obama administration, including the president, is made up of people who do not really like what America has been. And our prowess in space is part of what America has been. And I think they would just as soon see us take a second- or third-rate status in that."

Strong words. Schmitt will be speaking here in Madison tomorrow night (Monday, April 19th) at 6:45 p.m. in room 1610 of Engineering Hall, 1415 Engineering Drive.

I have to admit I'm not a big supporter of space travel. Maybe I'll give Schmitt a chance to convince me otherwise.

***

Old song lyric that played in my head as I wrote this:

Well, I don’t know, but I’ve been told
The streets in heaven are lined with gold
I ask you how things could get much worse
If the Russians happen to get up there first
Wowee! pretty scary!

Sorry. I've never seen what it was all for.

At the Prospect Hotel...

... you can shoot the moon.

Apparently, I stand alone among conservative bloggers...

... appreciating the conservatism of Obama's decision to decline to stamp new human bootprints into the face of the moon.

The New Year's Eve blue moon.

Tomorrow night. What will it look like? Like any other full moon. It's just the second full moon in a month. But all full moons are terribly beautiful, and a full moon on New Year's Eve — New Decade's Eve — seems propitious. May the new moon lift up your heart and inspire you to contribute what you can to whatever can be good about the next year and the 9 that follow.

***

Musical accompaniment.

This is what I was trying to photograph at midnight, in the moonlight.

I put a coat over my nightgown and boots on my bare feet and ventured out into the night only to discover my battery was dead. It's not quite so pretty in the sunlight, but I wanted to show you anyway. You'll have to imagine the moonlight. Imagine the Moonlight. That's an aphorism for you. Take it to heart.

In the sunlight, this, unseen at night, became visible:



Hydrangea. Not the way you usually picture it, is it? Closer to some unappetizing pasta than what you have in your head to be summoned up by the word "hydrangea." Or have I replaced that image now. I would love to do that.

The Snow-on-Redbuds-in-Moonlight Inn.

You'll just have to imagine the picture. I was snuggled up in bed talking on the telephone for so very long, and then I went downstairs for some chocolate and, looking out the window, noticed that beautiful thin layer of snow on the redbuds, perfectly lit with moonlight and porchlight, so I got the camera, stepped into my boots and put on my long coat and crouched carefully into position by the stoop only to find that the battery was dead. I went back inside for another camera and that battery was dead too. But believe me, the night is beautiful here. I wanted to tell you that, and you can tell me anything you want.

Moonset.

Just now:

A little silver slipper of a moon.

Look over your left shoulder, and make a wish!