in the gap of time

in the gap of time

between sunset and moonrise,

interlude of deer

I'm waiting in the gap of time between sunset and moonrise. From my vantage point at the top of the hill, I can see clearly in all directions. To the west, the sun is sinking behind a bank of blue anvil clouds beyond the pond in the meadow. Before long, the moon will rise over the woods to the east. 
          In the interlude, I notice a spotted fawn grazing by the road. Where is your mother, little one? I look around and spot the doe in the timothy grass near the field corn on the other side of the road. She, too, has spotted me. She stomps her foreleg, shakes her ears, stares at me. I'm not moving, but she's spooked and bounds away toward the pond. The fawn looks up. Where is my mommy? Then she, too, spots me and starts rotating her ears. While I'm watching the fawn watching me, the doe jumps the fence and comes trotting over to her baby. They both give me one last, suspicious glance, then leap away, white tails held high. 
          The full moon floats up above the trees, gold in a veil of pink clouds.

Stepping Outside, Exalted Moon

                              Stepping Outside, Exalted Moon

                              Wild horses lunging uphill,

                              shaggy coats the color of clay,

                              feathered fetlocks thick as mufflers,

                              each delicate spiral horn.

                              On a steppe found only by climbing

                              sideways through time,

                              outside the silken rim

                              of our consensual world.

                              Gods dwell here --

                              mammoth white bison,

                              laughing coyote,

                              trumpeting unicorns.

moon caught in a web

moon caught in a web

of black limbs, snow moon, hunger moon,

opening buds moon

Native American tribes of the north and east often called February's full Moon the Full Snow Moon, since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month. Hunting was difficult in such harsh weather, so some tribes also called this Moon the Full Hunger Moon. Paradoxically, if the weather was mild, the warmth would induce trees to bud, giving the full Moon the name Opening Buds Moon.
          We have had almost no snow this winter and not a long cold spell. But today the wind is blowing strong from the northwest, making it feel much colder than the reading on the thermometer. The full Moon, rising through a web of bare black limbs, looks like a baseball I found in the woods, its white leather cover rotted away, revealing yards of string wrapped around the hard core.

moon over turquoise

moon over turquoise

Lake Pukaki – pink clouds

above Aoraki

From our tents on the shore of Lake Pukaki, we have a beautiful view of Aoraki and his two brother mountains through a gap in the hills. After sunset the clouds put on a moonlight sonata full of fans, curlicues and saucers. Lake Pukaki is the largest of three alpine lakes formed when receding glaciers blocked the valleys with terminal moraines. The lake is fed by the Tasman River, which has its source in the Tasman Glacier. Finely ground rock particles brought down by melt water from the glacier gives the lake its turquoise color