SOL19 Slice #19: The Moon

I am participating in the
 Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOL19)
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for the month of March 2019.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity
for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

It's Tuesday,
so I slip out the door at 5:30am for an early morning jog,
leaving my hot tea on the counter, steeping,
my ritual of three weeks now,
as I try to 'spring' into shape.

My eyes are immediately drawn to the moon in the sky - wow! 

nearly full,

bright and brilliant,

standing out, beckoning in the early morning,

still night,

sky,

I think as I jog,
what are my top moon memories?
What do I think of when I look at the moon?

Here are a few of my moon memories - 

- 1969, the Apollo landing, my parents, brothers and I absolutely riveted, watching the newscast; this has been followed by years of curiosity with this space travel (and countless trips to the National Air and Space Museum with our three sons as they were growing up)

- a year or so later, traveling with my family to Florida, I saw a full moon in the sky, and I watched it over countless driving hours, stuck in that car with my brothers and my parents; how I stared and stared at that moon, only to finally see its shadings and variations form the outline of a man's face...and, ever since, my eyes immediately see/form that same image on the moon, my man in the moon 

- my silly high school friend, passenger in the car I was driving, recreating the American Graffiti scene, mooning other girlfriends in the other car - of course, she did not have the courage to moon the boys...

- my baby (now 30, a father himself), how he loved the moon so much, that I made him a "moon" costume for his second Halloween; it was a very simple, cardboard, sandwich-styled board, with a friendly-faced quarter moon design; he was our little man in the moon

- an anniversary trip to Florida, years back, boys being babysat by our sister-in-law...a beach in the dark, a darling husband, a full moon in the sky, and some good fun by ourselves.

- living in Little Rock, Arkansas, back in 2004-06; we lived down a big hill, and the full moons seemed to sit at the base of our cul-de-sac, beckoning, saying "Hello! Welcome! Notice me!" every time we stepped out our front door...beautiful

- a friend's wedding in Oregon, middle of summer...driving down a country road after the reception, the moon leapt out in front of us, so magnificent, so gorgeous...we stopped the car on the side of the road and took picture after picture with our phones, though none were even half as good as our memory of it.

- glimpses of the moon in the daytime, from my school playground, running with preschoolers; how excited the children are when they see it; how I always sing "When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's amore!"

I love the moon!