New Moon behind a veil

New Moon behind a veil

of pale blue edged in pink

flirts with Jupiter

After bidding adieu to Venus, the New Moon is flirting with Jupiter tonight, peeking coyly through a pale blue veil edged in pink. The beautiful corona is caused by moonlight diffracting as it passes around the small particles of a thin layer of cirrocumulus clouds. The three celestial companions are still engaged in English Country dancing, but now the Moon is turning contra corners, first with Venus on her right, then with Jupiter on her left.

the mottled blue Moon

the mottled blue Moon

in a silver cup dances

round Jupiter and Venus

Just after sunset the mottled blue Moon sitting in a silver cup swings between Jupiter and Venus, like English Country dancers doing a hey for three. On the other side of the canopy of stars, red Mars hurries to catch up with the trio. The eyes perceive three bright orbs in close proximity and the imagination endows this image with meaning.
          An Earthling, holding up a small appendage, measures the apparent distance between the Moon and her two companions: a hand span separates Moon from Jupiter, while Moon and Venus are a mere thumb's width apart. To the eyes, the Moon looks like a huge celestial ball and socket joint, while Venus seems as big as a six carat diamond and Jupiter just a diamond chip. Yet the mind knows that this difference in apparent size is only an appearance: Jupiter is actually a giant planet and Venus is far larger than the Earth's satellite.
         Appearance means "to bring forth," and this ability to bring forth relationships between disparate things is one of the greatest procreative acts of being human.

waxing gibbous moon

waxing gibbous moon

dances half the night away

with a big bright star

Gusty wind again all day. 2012 is coming in like a lion, so perhaps it will go out like a lamb. Just after sunset tonight, Venus appears all decked out in bright splendor, yet she retires early, while the Moon, half full of intoxicating light, dances with her brilliant partner Jupiter until after midnight.

Moon and Jupiter

Moon and Jupiter

side by side with the stars and stripes

waving in the wind

I've just come out of ICON gallery after watching the BBC documentary on Ai WeiWei, the renowned Chinese activist artist. After the Cultural Revolution, WeiWei moved to the US to experience freedom -- political, social, economic and artistic. After Tiananmen Square, he went back to China. I am walking along the north side of Fairfield Square, reflecting on  freedom, and there, like an artist's statement, the Moon and Jupiter float like a pair of bright white eyes on either side of the American flag. Yesterday the two celestial bodies did not appear side-by-side and tomorrow they will move apart as they continue their revolutions for millions of years, while the stars and stripes wave for who knows how long.