In May of 2012 I wrote the following post about an unusual lunar phenomenon. Tonight I had a chance to revisit my words and God’s grace. I hope you enjoy this trip down the uneven path that is my memory lane…*******
The Original Super Moon
Last evening, my wife and I set out on a journey with our kids. The purpose of our journey was to seek out a Mexican restaurant for a proper celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Our conversation at one point went something like this:
wife: “Is there anything on the other side of the highway?”
me: “I see a Chili’s.”
wife: “That’s not Mexican!” (wild laughter)
me: “It has a giant chili pepper above the door. Aren’t chili peppers Mexican or something?”
wife: “Yeah, well there’s a Walmart right next to that. I guarantee that’s more authentic than the Chili’s.”
Ultimately we settled on a place nearby that turned to be great. They handed out fake mustaches as we entered. Not sure why. But the kids had fun with them.
That super yellow dot is the moon.On our way home, my wife looked skyward and asked about the moon and why it appeared so large. I told her that it was called the “Supermoon” and that I had seen a story about it on the morning news. It happens when the full moon occurs as the moon is closest in her orbit to earth. It causes the moon to appear about 15% bigger and about 30% brighter than normal.
And then, as if the earlier conversation hadn’t been strange enough, thing really got weird.
me: “Could you imagine if the moon were 50,000 miles closer all the time?”
wife: “I think that would be cool. Hey… would that, I mean, the moon doesn’t…”
me: “What?”
wife: “The moon isn’t hot, right? I mean that wouldn’t make it really hot on earth?”
me: “No, the moon just reflects the sun’s light. (slight pause) It would definitely screw up our tides, though.”
wife: That would be awesome!”
me: (long pause) “Um… What?”
We went on to discuss that for such a situation to be feasible, houses would need to be chained to the ground so that they could “float around when the inevitable 400 mile high tide brought the Gulf of Mexico into Dallas twice daily and then returned at low tide. This way, the houses would roughly stay in place. According to my wife, for some reason, this would also necessitate flying cars.
wife: “Of course.”
me: “Of course.”
The Return of Super Moon
Flash forward to this evening. We are almost six years removed from this post and some things never change. Except the kids. They’re older, exhibiting more of the quirks of their parents’ genetic codes and even more of their own “super” personalities. Their mom is napping because she’s had a long day and it’s a perfect mid-winter evening for that sort of thing.
Me: Kids, come outside quickly”
Kids: “Why?”
Me: “Just do it!”
Kids come to the porch.
Me: “What do you notice about the moon tonight?”
Son: “It’s closer to the earth by a few thousand miles making it appear larger. I heard it on the news this morning.”
Daughter: “It’s also a full moon and there’s a lunar eclipse tonight. Can we go inside?”
Me: “Nit until you two get next to each other and pose for a picture for Daddy’s blog.”
Daughter: “But I’m cold. AND he won’t stop bothering me!”
Son: “I’m not bothering her. She was bothering me!”
Me: “I don’t care who was bothering whom! How often does a father get to take a totally staged picture of his kids gazing at a super moon in wonder and awe?”
Kids: “Wasn’t it like March of 2012 and you totally forgot to take the picture then too?”
Oy… I can’t fault them for having my memory and my wife’s practicality.
And for moments like tonight where God gives us super celestial nudges that are just really cool, I am super grateful.
God bless!
Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad 
Braved the cold and wind to take a look – the moon looks like an exquisite jewel! So glad the wind blew the clouds away so we in Philly can see the eclipse! These special events truly do remind us of the beauty of God’s creation that we otherwise take for granted……Loved your post! Enjoy the night sky with your family!