Be a Moon Noticer
A home for the people and dogs I’ve lost, 400,000km away
Do you notice the moon? Do you check when and where it’ll rise and set? Do you obsess over a moonlit night? Do you gasp at the sight of a full moon revealing a dark forbidden world? Or do you simply appreciate it when you notice it? You might be a moon noticer.
I can’t imagine a life where I wasn’t moved by the moon. For me, it really started after my mom died. A moonlit landscape promised a calm pause, a reason to look up, a cue for curiosity. A moment with the moon became a reminder of my mom—a reason to think about her, a way to direct my attention to her. The quiet of the night was a veil of safety giving me pause from whatever else was happening in the world.
The moon is a home for the people and dogs I’ve lost. A celestial body bigger than I can understand, but too far to grasp. Like the people and dogs who’ve become a part of me.
I saw a full moon in The White Lotus and immediately checked when it was filmed. Maybe I saw the same full moon. Maybe I took a photo of it. It was filmed from February to August 2024. That’s 8 full moons. I search my phone for “moons photographed between February and August 2024”. My phone isn’t smart enough for this yet, so I had to look manually. Hard to say.
I found this moonrise I recorded in May, 2024. Maybe it was the same full moon from that first episode of The White Lotus. Regardless, this is the moonrise I watch whenever it’s available. And when it is, I watch it pull out the tides as far as it can. Impressed by this incredible natural force.
Living near the ocean means I have a relationship with the tides. I only recently learned that during a full moon or a new moon, the tides are at their highest and lowest. I learned that the moon has the greatest influence on the tides. The sun influences the tides too, but only about half as much. The tides come in and go out twice a day. Sometimes they’re calm as a quiet lake, sometimes they’re a heavy metal mosh pit.
The moon is 1.3 light seconds away, which means you’re looking into the past by just over a second. For comparison, the sun’s light takes just over 8 seconds to reach us. I guess nothing grounds you like a celestial body that’s almost 400,000km away. Like Momo, like mom, completely out of reach, but somehow takes only a second to conjure an image.
The moon is our common ancestor. No matter your language or where you were born or what name you were given, we are all born under the same moon. In this way, noticing the moon is a humbling human experience.
Noticing the moon can lead to noticing the tides. It can lead to a momentary pause. It can be a humbling experience. It is undeniable, the moon. So…
Be a moon noticer.
With love,
Andrew, Yaya, & Boo
I've always loved the moon. My favorite is seeing the moon rise while the sun is setting.
And thank you for these words..."the moon is our common ancestor. No matter your language or where you were born or what name you were given, we are all born under the same moon." They're going in my daily quote book. Thank you. <3
You say things that I hold in my heart, held in my heart for a hundred moons.
But in a way refreshing. And it lifts my thoughts to something delightfully ethereal, allowing me to see what I haven't, and with fresh new eyes and perspective..
Thank you, A. 🫶🐕🐕🐕🫶