Not That Night, Not For Us

“Look, there she is! Come on, guys, wake up to see the moon!”

This was me on Monday waking up my kids to school at 6:50ish am.

Finally. There she was. We searched for her on Sunday night but it was a bit cloudy and even though we could glimpse a bright patch of light in the sky, always ahead of us (it reminded me of the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, without the mountain), we couldn’t find her, the Supermoon or Hunter’s Moon, the talk of last weekend. The scientists call her super when she is full, aligned with the Sun and Earth and closest to us, earthlings. For me she’s always super, though. It’s interesting to know why and how the phenomenon happens but what strikes me about the moon is her beauty, her mystery. She is so available and at the same time so unreachable, daring to melt in awe the cynical, the skeptical, the silly ones who think they are immune to her enchantments. I doubt anyone is.

After failing to see her from our yard and in a sudden spontaneous urge, I took the kids for a drive almost fearing that neglecting to do so we would be doomed for a life without magic.

As any kid would do, they didn’t think twice. “Yay, let’s find the moon!” That’s what’s amazing about kids: you shoot for the stars and they want to go with you, little creatures born ready to any adventure. Flip-flops, purse and keys gathered, we were ready for our quest. I am not a big fan of driving at night anymore but I couldn’t let it pass. Spirits lifted, off we went, as if our eyes needed to feast in her beauty, like our souls depended on her for comfort, like our bodies could only go in the arms of Morpheus that night with the reminiscence of that image.

Well, this was me being delusional.

I romanticized the moon way too much that night. We didn’t find her. My kids were more down-to-earth (pun totally intended), really, just happy with the drive, something unexpected on that regular, melancholic, busy-week eve, or plainly, Sunday night. I would not even say they were disappointed with our failed attempt. In the car, their excitement easily converted to some kind of annoying play that involved singing a song based on the name of a food joint we passed by, “The Sandwich Man – Pizza too”, verbatim. The happy duet delivered passion through the lyrics, lyrics that consisted of those five words only. On and on. The Sandwich Man, Pizza Too. I’d be happier with a haiku.

Anyway, that song was starting to get on my nerves. Yes, these same little nerves that until then were soothed or maybe numb by the promise that the moon would grant us an apparition, started to give away. All right, I saw my children happy so I gave them a slack. “They are just being kids”, I mentally said, resigned, trying to rationalize the situation. As soon as they decided to take turns in that unpleasant mantra, though, I knew that they were, maybe, just maybe, going too far. I knew where it was heading. A fight. “It’s my turn now. Stop!” “Mo-o-o-ommmm…” And my verdict was right. Suddenly I realized the absurdity of my situation, which was filled with several low points: no sign of moon + driving aimlessly + at night + with two loud and agitated kids. “Enough!” Supermoon was thrown of the picture! There was only Supermad me. “Enooooooough!!!”

That was it.

The outcome? Heading home with the opposite mood of the initial enterprise. I felt frustrated and defeated, not much by the no-show of the moon but by the whole “Sandwich/Pizza song” situation. That was to blame. I sure expected from my kids more respect to the nature emoji. My daughter as a toddler used to say that she wanted to eat the moon, after seeing her up there shining. What happened with that fascination now? Child of mine, you gave all up to a sandwich and pizza? I bowed my head.

I was not mad at the moon. It’s true, I hoped to see her but given that all was an impulsive decision made by me, a last minute thing, I shouldn’t have had my hopes so high. How glad I was the next morning, though, when I opened the blinds of the kids’ windows and saw her, bright and round, showering us with beauty. I rejoiced, she didn’t betray ME, after all! We were all happy! “Mom, the moon is so bright, I thought it was a lamppost!!”. Yes!

Well well, nothing besides my patience was lost that night. There are more supermoons coming our way this year. The next ones will appear on November 14 and December 14 and the november’s date is expected to be extra-special: it will be the closest full moon of the 21st century! It’s an extra-supermoon! And this extra-supermoon effect won’t be witnessed again until November 25, 2034. Great! One thing is certain: I don’t want to wait or count on 2034 to experience that. I will plan it better this November, hoping that it becomes a special memory in years to come. I will also make sure there will be no food joint nearby.