Beltane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waxing Strawberry Moon<\/p>\n
The half Strawberry moon hangs just above the basswoods in our woods.\u00a0 The night has a velvet texture, not the Elvis portrait kind but the backing for a stunning diamond necklace kind.\u00a0 The moon lays upon it as a gem of unique character, instead of fire it has a subtle glow, a depth that promises mystery.\u00a0 As it always is here at this time on night, it is quiet.\u00a0 Solitary.\u00a0 Right now it’s just the moon and our house floating along on a dark, silent river.<\/p>\n
Somehow melancholy can be transformed now, as if the inner and the outer merge for a moment and the ache dissolves, only a small blackness measured against space.<\/p>\n
A friend from long ago, the Alexandria days, wrote on facebook that he had had a tumor removed from his bladder.\u00a0 His sister-in-law wrote to say she loved him.\u00a0 I got a quick jolt of time having passed, so much time.\u00a0 We were high school buddies when I left and now he’s an aging baby boomer like me with health problems and a family that loves him.<\/p>\n
This is ordinary stuff, yes.\u00a0 But it has history, breadth, too, for Larry and I know many of the same people, grew up with them, played little league and sat through 5th grade with Mrs. Craig and listened to Hit the Road, Jack on the high school public address system.<\/p>\n
We remember when Alexandria had a thriving downtown, a strong sense of itself, a small town with muscle.\u00a0 Now it has and has had for a long time, a wasting disease.\u00a0 Empty storefronts.\u00a0 Chain businesses on the edge of town with big box architecture and big city charm.\u00a0 Ferguson’s, a women’s clothing store, is gone.\u00a0 So is Baumgartners for men.\u00a0 There was a moment when Alexandria had two movie theaters and plenty of patrons.\u00a0 We all remember it.<\/p>\n
The place where the child has played can never be recovered or repeated, only remembered.\u00a0 It was there, for me, in that little town, with all those others.\u00a0 My friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beltane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waxing Strawberry Moon The half Strawberry moon hangs just above the basswoods in our woods.\u00a0 The night has a velvet texture, not the Elvis portrait kind but the backing for a stunning diamond necklace kind.\u00a0 The moon lays upon it as a gem of unique character, instead of fire it has a subtle glow, … Continue reading Ordinary Stuff<\/span>