Looking Out My Back Door

Guanaja At Night

Now that’s odd, really odd. There’s been a full moon out lately. Bright. I got up early one morning (4:30-ish) and it looked like it was already daylight. The moon was hanging low over Guanaja, lighting up the island like the sun. I grabbed my camera and headed out onto the deck, wondering if any pictures would come out.

One great thing about digital cameras is that you can see the results of your handiwork immediately, unlike conventional cameras in which you have to wait until you get the film back from the developer. In the same way computer word processors have revolutionized writing and made typewriters obsolete, so digital cameras have revolutionized photography. You snap away, making adjustments on the fly, then download the pics into your computer and see which one came out best. Almost instant gratification. The result is what you see above. It doesn't really capture how light it was out, but it's a neat picture. (Digital cameras are cool, but they are limited in the range of adjustments. I wish I could have gotten the lens to stay open longer. Oh, well.)

So I was going to write a short post about it. I toyed with the idea of calling it “Bad Moon Rising,” in reference to the old Creedence Clearwater Revival song. But it wasn’t rising, it was setting. And it certainly wasn’t a bad moon, it was a great moon! So any cleverness at using somebody else’s title would be lost.

Anyway, I’m in my room writing this post. Outside on the deck, Matt Hewatt, one of our favorite “regular” guests had set up his iPod in a way-cool docking station that allows you to play your songs through speaker. Sounds great! It’s on, loud, and I can hear it clearly in my room. Matt’s got a great collection of songs on his iPod, from the requisite Jimmy Buffet to Tracy Bird to Cyndi Lauper to B.B. King. As I listen, Credence’s “Bad Moon Rising” comes on! I said to myself, “Self, now that there is one big co-inky-dink!”

A couple of other Credence songs were played (obviously Matt’s iPod wasn’t in “shuffle” mode). In the end I decided not to call this post, “Bad Moon Rising.” Using a song title is just dumb.

But it was a great moon.