OK- I appreciate and apologize for the fact that I inflicted my current bucolic lifestyle on you yesterday. It was kind of fun recounting the morning routine at the farm. It is almost as if the full moon was blasting a beam of bright white light through the bedroom window long before dawn, so bright that it lit the bedroom as if I had left one of the bedside lights on.

The moon has been a big player at the farm this year- there was a “Blood Moon” in January when they claimed we could observe a distinct reddish hue in the reflection radiated from our nearest stellar body.

I did not see crimson, but it sure as heck was big in the sky. Astronomers claim the orbits have brought us closer together than normal, and as with all headlines, most folks in the city have the heaven’s bold gaze wiped out by the streetlights and the neon of the strip malls.

Not true at Refuge Farm. I used to run the sodium vapor security light to brighten things up at night. When I was much younger I had an infatuation on the security lights blazing white on the endless snow of Northern Michigan. It seemed to me the blue-white light indicated that there was life, and maybe rescue if something went wrong.

Down in Culpeper years later, I decided I did no want to advertise my presence and shut it down. What I discovered was that the night sky was alive with celestial motion, the Milky Way hovering up there as another manifest bounty of the sky, given for free.

This was a huge week for looking up. My pal Point Loma, a refugee on the lovely east shore of the Chesapeake, wrote to marvel at the nature of the sky. He did not want me to miss it:

“If you get a chance, go out the next couple of nights and check out the full moon. then look to the right and you will see a bright starry-like object which is actually the planet Jupiter, the protector of Earth. He is closer (398M miles) than in a while and maybe not ever be again for us to see this up close, given our now dwindling lifetimes. If you have binoculars, this week you can see the Galilean moons from your porch.”

“I used to go up to the signal bridge at night on the carrier to get on the Big Eyes to gaze at the stars and planets – Jupiter was a favorite target. I got a shipmate out of the rack and made him come out to see it tonight as there are some things bigger than us. this is one of them.”

“And what’s more, there is also a sound track – Gustav Holst’s The Planets Jupiter movement. the embedded hymn in the middle is also known as the Brits’ patriotic “I Vow to thee My Country.” my wife is on notice to make sure that it is played at whatever memorial service awaits me. It is that fucking good.”

Given the number of obituaries I have written over the years, I occasionally think about the funerary music one might want to leave at the Big Permanent Change of Station. I thought it might be “Both Ends Burning” by Roxy Music. I have come around to Point Loma’s position. There is a a music of the spheres, and a hell of a nice place at the farm to feel it in stereo.

Oh, and remember to look up.

Copyright 2019 Vic Socotra and Point Loma
www.vicsocotra.com