Regular readers of this blog probably notice that I post lots of pictures here; indeed, it's 52.34% of my traffic. I happen to live in an area of natural beauty *subliminal man* until the developers get through with it *subliminal man* and sharing that is occassionally well-received. I'm also a father, with a long commute, and a job where I stare at computers all day, so my inclinations to sit down and write deep, well-thought and edited posts are few and far-between. Plus, sometimes, oh hell, mostly, I'd rather just shirk and drink beer, like tonight. But this time, I won't rely on the photo, since this is a shot I never could have gotten.

The past three days have seen the blustery arrival of fall. We've had temperatures in the 30's at night and wild, leaf-stripping wind tearing at us. The winds have brought a steady flotilla of thick, battleship gray clouds, angry-looking bunches with blue sky showing between them. They move through, threatening rain or worse, but don't deliver, instead driven on by the gusting winds. In a somewhat apocalyptic mood yesterday, I noted their marked similarity to something from which the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse might emerge, altough I'm sure I really meant this. That, coupled with my supposition that the end times were surely upon us because it was snowing in Columbus, Ohio, in Oc-freaking-tober did not escape comment by my colleagues, I can assure you.

But, I digress.

Tonight on the way home from work, most of the western sky was cloudbound, with slivers of silver peeking through near the zenith and changing color to a pale orange near the horizon. I drive into that western view every day and can appreciate a good cloud cover to block the sun from my eyes. Now, the nifty part. I noticed a break in the clouds very near the horizon, a mix of dark sky and pale orange showing. In that gap was the most gorgeous crescent moon, a dark-orange sliver, not more than a couple of days old. It was something from an alien sky, tipped far over in setting, with a sliver so narrow and smooth and painted with golden light, as to not be recognizable as our pockmarked friend, the Moon.

My mind, of course, shot to the camera and "where to stop" and "would the clouds hold for long?" Knowing it was an impossible shot, I gave up and soaked it in, certainly below the 45-mph speed limit. A mile later it was gone but it's with me now, and perhaps some with you as well.

Technorati Tag: luna