The Moon is Full Tonight

The moon is full tonight. Although masked in a hazy cloud, its brilliance shines through and illuminates the stars. I stand outside at the end of our driveway with my son Dean. He's 16 and still enjoys jousting with sticks that resemble a wizard's staff. I looked up at the sky with him and he pointed out the big dipper. He knows that one, as well as the North star and when the planets Venus or Mars are visible.

Between the stars, the sky was black, inky and immense. And so silent. Yes, the crickets and frogs were singing their nightly chorus, so unlike last year when the drought ruled and nothing spoke. But the solitude; the solitude I felt gazing up at infinity enveloped me and I began to notice ...everything. I had fought with how to connect with whatever is out there that draws living things together and realized that observing what is happening around you must be the key because it requires you to focus.

Embracing this epiphany, I walked to the center of my yard. I noticed the blowing wind rustling the tree limbs and creating shadows and shapes. I breathed in the scent of leaves and dirt still moist from yesterday's rainstorm. I listened to Dean's footsteps as he stomped towards me across the yard and felt the energy vibrating from the ground after each step. To be able to draw that energy up into myself would be delicious! The power so desirable.

A buzzing sound distracted me. It was faint at first, but grew stronger as I turned my attention to it. The buzzing reverberated throughout my head until finally the sound became a word....Rhianna. Unlike the morning I heard the voice whisper my name and felt the wrongness in it, this time I felt need...and possibility. I could grasp the energy emanating from the earth, wind it into myself and use it.

Suddenly, a Sheriff's car screamed past the house, sirens blaring. The buzzing ceased and instinctively I knew it was time to get myself and Dean into the house.