When you can't see anything outside after dark....this is what's really exists

When you can't see anything outside after dark....this is what really exists

The Ojibway called the January moon Gichi-manidoo-giizis  “Great Spirit Moon”.   The full moon hangs high in the sky tomorrow night, at its zenith at exactly 10:27 p.m. EST. 

Two nights ago I wandered out and snapped photos of its almost-full beauty.  No clouds obscured its white face.  My breath blew out wisps of mist.  The landscape seems enchanted in the shadowed world; a patterned black-and-white painting revealed itself beneath the rounded moon.

Last night, a curtain of clouds covered our orb.  Yet the moonlight must have penetrated somehow, for the light illuminated landmarks which remain dark in the new moon pitch blackness.  I could still see the woodpile, the sway of branches, and snow drifts pushed high by the snowplow.

In the eerie half-light, a coyote howled in the distance.  I started snapping photos, interested to discover what existed unseen by the limited eye.  The above photo captures light falling snow and other orb-like wonders.  The snow reflected a green tint, so unlike the blue tint of full daylight. 

This after-dark world filled me with delight.  Usually I’m in bed by 10 p.m. and miss much of the beauty of the nighttime.  My husband is a night owl and likes to prowl around the garage until wee hours, so he often shares stories of night-time happenings.  Once, on my 40th birthday, he roused me from bed to view the Aurora Borealis, the northern lights, in flickering greens and faint reds.  It was a glorious birthday present.

Hopefully we’ll find more during the summer to share on this Outdoors Blog.  If not, we’ll at least hold the memory of this cold January night with the camera capturing yet another beauty of nature.

I’m heading off for today’s Outdoor Adventure in a couple hours and won’t return until late (another view of the darkness!)  Will report back tomorrow with perhaps a more unusal entry!