Celestial Seduction: meteor showers vs the waning gibbous moon...

  

3:50 am

Deep into the Bewitching Hour, the air is crisp and cool outside. I set up my watchtower to view the Delta Aquariids meteor showers. The moon threatens to invade my space, though. Tonight, an unwanted intruder, perhaps it is ready to hold a silent silver conversation with me, but I don’t need its counsel tonight. I want darkness to caress the clear sky for sustained viewing. I need the void.

The first flash came shooting across! Success! I am smitten.

The cold air presses against my skin like silk sheets. The moon, ever a possessive voyeur in this moment demanding to be looked at, creeps into my celestial theater, but passing clouds rise up to the occasion to devour it. I am appreciative, so I intend to be rewarded with more white-hot needles piercing the night sky.

The showers do not come consistently, so I am patient to witness the cosmic debris meeting eARTh in a violent embrace. As each meteor scrapes against the nighttime canvas, it leaves a glowing stream of friction in its wake. Delightful.

Each streak feels like an electric touch that leaves my skin tingling as the glow dissipates. Perhaps it’s also the cold air tightening my flesh as I watch. Tonight, I am the voyeur, waiting in the shadows, seeking to witness a celestial seduction, to witness unfiltered wildness of the open sky.

The moon is winning the battle, though. She dictates that the clouds pass by without cloaking her brilliance. So now I re-focus to observe this act of defiance. I consider that the moon has exacted her revenge on my refusal to acknowledge her. Under her direction, the clouds march across the sky, impairing my view of everything but her.

I try to sweet-talk her into acquiescing. I divulge my secrets to her from the day, coaxing her to part the clouds. Her unspoken response is positive; the sky becoming clear once more. She is appreciative of my silent confessions from the day and shows her gratitude. We both know she is a force to be reckoned with, and so am I. We share our intimate pact together.

Another flash briefly shoots through the sky (an hour after the first)!

5 am and the show is over for tonight’s event. I’ll be better prepared for tomorrow night’s show…Unfortunately the meteor showers coincide the moon’s fullness.