I dig the moon, mostly because it’s made of cheese and cows jump over it. You ever watch the ocean tide roll in and out? It doesn’t happen without the moon and these tides act as a brake on the rotational speed of both the earth and the moon and without this “braking system” our life here would be just one wild teacup ride and we’d spend most of our time throwing up and asking for the ride to stop. Makes you wanna give the man in the moon a little more respect, huh?
To me, what glows above nearly every night is not a science project, but a friendly orb we can all keep track of, an always-on nightlight, the stuff of dreams, impossible romance and life’s possibilities. I try to stay in the loop with what my friend is doing. There’s a full moon basically once a month (in some strange years it happens thirteen times and this is where our expression once in a blue moon comes from), but on any given day I know he’s in some state of coming (called waxing) or going (waning) between a full moon and a new moon
The moon’s surface is a bit larger than that of Africa and Australia combined. There really is a dark side of the moon, because as the moon circles the earth, it always exposes the same side. In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts were the first to orbit the moon and see that dark side. When they disappeared behind the moon they lost all radio contact, and though our grasp on science at that point was fairly firm, once they went to the dark side some thought they might fly out of orbit and disappear forever.
Moonlight is actually reflected sunlight. Us seeing the moon is to see a reflection of a reflection – sun hits earth and reflects it and that reflection hits the moon and we see that reflection as moonlight. The moon has an oval orbit, so one day of the year it is closer to earth than all the others, this is its perigee. When it’s the farthest away it is in its apogee.
My friend controls a lot of stuff you wouldn’t think of. What day Easter falls on depends on the moon, that is, Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. D-Day during World War II had to be on June 5th, 6th or 7th 1945 because the planners wanted a late rising moon and a low tide.
Hundreds and hundreds of songs have been written about the moon, so I’m not the only one who thinks about him or occasionally gets carried away with his presence. Here are the ten best songs ever with the word moon in the title (according to me), so tonight you can look to the heavens, play some groovy tunes and be happy about the fact that, while the sun will burn your face off if you look at it, our friendly moon permits unlimited gazing.
- “Harvest Moon,” Neil Young
- “Dancing in the Moonlight,” King Harvest
- “Mr. Moonlight,” The Beatles
- “Here Comes the Moon,” George Harrison
- “Poor Moon,” Canned Heat
- “Fly Me to the Moon,” Frank Sinatra
- “Shame On the Moon,” Bob Seger
- “Moonlight Drive,” The Doors
- “Bad Moon Rising,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “Moondance,” Van Morrison