A Day Late...Only Fifty Cents Short

I was all teed up Sunday, ready to go out with the rest of the world and get pictures of the super moon, but some reason, I didn’t.  It might have been because the actual full moon was Monday night, but still.  A photographer acquaintance of mine had advised me that Sunday, the moon would rise early enough that a fair amount of light would remain before sunset, allowing for good shots. Then, all of a sudden, it was 4:45 pm on Sunday, my sister-in-law was texting me to go outside and see the moon, and all I got was scraps of it rising through the trees.

Which was why I headed out an hour-and-a-half earlier than I needed to Monday to scout locations, while crossing my fingers enough light would remain at moonrise, an hour later than the day before.  I don’t have one of those moonrise best-place-to-be GPS apps on my phone. So, based on a stunning picture someone posted from Sunday night, I took a stab as to where I might get a shot of the moon rising over Minot Lighthouse. 

My first clue that I was wrong place, wrong time occurred when no one else showed up with a camera.  Still, I positioned my tripod, framed the image I wanted, took some test shots, and waited. Then I waited some more.  Finally, about ten minutes before moonrise, a group of people gathered on the beach.  Just enough light remained for me to feel stupid uneasy, when I realized they weren’t looking toward the lighthouse at all.

Thankfully, this girl can take a hint.  I kept scanning the horizon, and just on time, a red thumbnail appeared at about a 45 degree angle beyond where I’d focused the camera.  Oops.  After a bit of a scramble, I got a few photos.  It was too dark.  What I caught with the camera says nothing about what I caught with my eyes.  

Nevertheless, a mild afternoon by the ocean, witnessing a mirror-still low-tide is a blessing.  Award-winning moonshot or not.

Picking Favorites - IWSG November

 

It's IWSG Day.  The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds. The brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh, our brilliant ninja leader.  To read other posts, click here.

This month's question: What is my favorite aspect of being a writer?

A long time ago, I read something about musicians feeling a kind of “high” after a performance.  Since I sang for many years, it makes sense to me.  Maybe it’s blood pressure, maybe endorphins, but after a good concert, I glowed inside.

Writing delivers a similar reward.  When the words spill out, something elemental stirs and I’m engaged and engrossed.  Of course, words don’t always flow, but even one good sentence helps, and when the job at hand is editing, I get sucked in while pondering the exact turn of phrase, the nuance of detail. If I'm interrupted by, say,  the alarm I set each morning so I leave the computer in time for work, or a phone, or maybe my family, I blink a few times as I return from where I mentally was.  It’s always difficult to depart that place, but warm coals of accomplishment burn for having traveled there.

Sometimes, I go a day or two without a focused period of writing.  Invariably, on the third or fourth day, I wake up with a craving, the need to sit down in front of the computer and spill it.  For me, the act of writing is medicinal.  It makes me whole again.  Without it, the puzzle of me remains incomplete.