It is hard to sleep. Barefoot, I cross the wet grass on a late June night and see an almost full moon ahead of me just above the silhouette of the trees. It hangs like a giant milky pearl just above the Eastern horizon chasing the sun which is long gone from the ink black sky. The night is very still and almost quiet. Even the frogs seem to be at rest. It is as if all life on the planet is waiting and watching and anticipating, while the fireflies continue to dance at their ball 30 feet in the air only distracted by their own glow.
I have come to watch that bigger race/dance between Venus and Jupiter, the two largest planets in our solar system, because on this night they will hang side by side like best friends or the winner and runner up in a beauty contest. Side by side, they glow and twinkle as if they were stars and not planets. Eventually they will hug and kiss cheeks and then cross paths on their separate destinies and vastly different orbits.
I have read that this conjunction in their paths will not happen again for over two decades, and since I will, most likely, miss this space race another time,I am enthralled to see it tonight. I wave back like a foolish fan.
As I turn to head back inside I see the white phlox glowing in the moonlight on the planet earth, and I pause to inhale her exotic fragrance and wonder if she is as amazed as I at this race that has gone on for millions and millions of years and seen by so much other life on this planet.
I have never been able to tell one of the planets from a star, so I would have missed this event even if I was aware of it. Pretty cool though, glad you got to appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThere is magic in your words. It must have been moon glow.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to watch the heavens, even though i don't know much. It was cloudy that night, but i saw the two still very close the next night.
ReplyDeleteWow! this is deep stuff. You put many thoughts in people's heads when you think of a different scenario like plants and animals experiencing an event.
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely post. I, too, have been watching the Venus/Jupiter show for the past month or more. Unfortunately, I was not in a place to view the sky when they came together and "kissed" in passing. Jupiter was already on the other side when I caught up. Still, I await each night for them, as Venus and Jupiter are the first things I see in the darkening sky. Then Regulus, the rest of Leo, then....
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed it.
we were able to see the conjunction of the night before their closest approach. close but not kissing. it was over cast the night they kissed.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you were able to witness such an event. And that you appreciated it as you did and shared it with us.
ReplyDelete