18 February 2011 - Full Moon

I have been so darned cheerful lately, not to mention inordinately happy. I know a big part of this is the sun coming up earlier and setting later. Could it be directly responsible for this mood swing?  I feel as though I am bouncing through my day. I’m not sure if is a joyful mood or a joy-filled mood. Don’t really care, either way it just feels good.

I always have a song in my head. Sometimes they come out of left field, leaving me mystified as to their origins. (Why me? why that song?)  But mostly they are direct reflections on what is going on around me. Today at work I stopped dead and laughed out loud when I realized those little high voices in my head were Munchkins from Oz singing:

You’re out of the woods

You’re out of the dark

You’re out of the night

Step into the sun

Step into the light.

What could be more appropriate than that?  I really would like to know just how the brain works. I could not have dredged that song up if you had asked, but there it was, chirping away in the background. As usual, the melody was there first, the words breaking through here and there until it dawned on me what was going on.

Now that I’m home it seems like all those happy little endorphins have worn off.  I can hardly stay awake. What just happened here? All that happiness just wore me out?  I am practically falling asleep at the keyboard. Whew! I need my bed, my cat, and a nice little nap.

We are having a two-day heat wave. We hit 48 as our high today, way lower than the 56 that was predicted, but we had a screaming wind all day. It is still howling out there, enough so we have a severe weather advisory for wind damage. Maybe it will drop the maple on the garage solving some problems for me!

What with all the wind and temps above freezing, the snow has melted and there is quite a bit of bare ground showing. I walked down the front of the house today and saw a lot of crocuses sticking their little green points up through the dirt. And the early daffodils are at least 4 inches high: just growing under the snow… amazes me every year.

These green spikes are not grass blades, but the first leaves of a clump of iris reticulata. They are also very early bloomers. The whole plant including the bloom rarely gets over 5 inches high. It is one of those tiny charmers that waits for the viewer to notice, but the deep purple miniature iris are certainly worth looking for.

Saw a funny thing on the way to work today. Along the side of Grand River there was a string of mole hills; all fresh dirt and in a straight line parallel with the road. Are they busy under the snow, or did the warming air draw them up? So much to learn!

The moon is full tonight and it is gorgeous! I have spent way too much time staring out the window, watching it ascend: starting from a golden globe at eye level and as it rises in the sky turning from yellow to a white so bright it almost hurts to look at it. Nevertheless, I am transfixed. There is something so mysterious and so intriguing about the moon, no matter what phase it is in, but the full moon? 

The February full moon is also knows as the Full Snow Moon. I can imagine how bright the world would be if we still under snow. As it is, the moon is throwing shadows on the lawn without the snow cover.

The moon is so big tonight-- I wonder if we are near perigee?  Something else to look up!