The moon

I have always been drawn to the moon .. and have literally felt its pull when it rises up out of the sky, so close you feel that you could reach out and touch it.  Most nights I fall into bed and sleep until morning.  But every once in a while I will go into my bedroom and it will be so light that I don't have to feel my way around in the darkness.  And then I think, uh oh, getting close to a full moon, I hope that I sleep.

I don't know what it is about the full moon and sleeping, but it greatly affects me, but this months' moon has been crazy!  For the past three nights it has been shining into my room.  I woke up at 3:00 a.m. with the moon in my face, literally.  I could feel it, hanging out there, chuckling to itself that it had managed to work its way through the sky directly in front of the doors and on me.  There was no more sleep that night.  Damn moon.  And even worse, I could see that it wasn't completely full.  It was certainly as bright as a full moon, but not full nonetheless.

Last night driving home, it appeared below the trees and I gasped in wonder.  So low, so bright, so big and round, I was sure it was full.  I stopped and took a few pictures, full well knowing that my phone/camera wouldn't capture its wonder, but needing to do it all the same.

Today I realized that this round and amazingly bright orb WAS STILL NOT FULL.  Oye.  I woke up around 3:00 a.m. once again and groaned.  But at least, I told myself, it would start waning and I'd go back to sleeping.  Then I checked the calendar and realized that bright ball was going to get brighter tonight!  Moon woes, I tell ya!

The cool thing about having four seasons is that entering each one has its own initiation.  When going from summer to fall, that harvest moon hangs in the sky in all of its orange splendor, and like the leaves on the trees turning color, I lament the fact that we are headed toward winter.  The grayness, the cold, the endless dark nights and shortened days ... the harvest moon is never welcome, despite its majesty.  Because I know what it is telling me, and I don't want to hear the whisper of winter in my ear.  When the season changes from fall to winter, I hardly notice, because the moon doesn't reach out to me.  Perhaps it knows that I get it ... winter is here, and it's time for us all to settle down for a long winter's nap.  But this moon, this moon in Libra (which essentially means nothing to me, but that is what it is called) is slapping me in the face, night after night.  Wake up, Lisa!  WAKE UP, LISA.  It is literally waking me up, and by googling this moon, I found this:

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Full Moon in Libra March 27, 2013

The full Moon on March 27th will fall in the sign of Libra. It is the sign that rules relationships, partnerships, marriage, collaboration with others, doctors, therapists, employee and employer's. The next couple weeks should bring about a great sense of compromise and harmony in relationships, partnerships and even working alongside others. You would think the way others think  for you to be open to compromise especially if there are any issues or concerns that need to be dealt with and worked out. If you're having any problems in a marriage or relationship this would be a great time to work out the issues and problems and come to a compromise a resolution. It also works great if you are having any problems with a friend or family member. You will feel a greater sense of peace and harmony and equality. You will be very much open to getting things out in the open and be willing to get along with others. Venus, Uranus and Mars all oppose the full moon in this can be a time of setting changes, beginnings and endings. It could bring schedule changes or disruptions. There may be some issues or problems to resolve and to work out especially in relation to other people. Jupiter supports the full moon so opportunities may come knocking on your door. You may gain through others or collaborate or work with others to further your career, education, finances or personal relationships. Pluto squares the full moon in this can bring a time of power struggles and control issues. You may want to have it your way and no other way. You could also be battling it out with a female and may struggled through some power issues.


The full Moon will affect everyone that was born around the 23rd through the 31st of in a month from any Sun sign. I feel that the Sun signs that will be affected by this full Moon on a personal level would be Aries, Libra, Sagittarius and Geminis. These Sun signs may be affected through personal relationships and friendships. Everyone will feel the effects of this full moon so no one will be left out.
Cynthia  http://www.keen.com/CommunityServer/UserBlogPosts/the_psychic_one/Full-Moon-in-Libra-March-27--2013/564024.aspx

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I have a 29th birthday and I am a Gemini.  I don't actually have any background in astrology, but the fact of the matter is, this moon is affecting me!  Big time.  My creative juices are bubbling, my ideas are all over the place, I have that can't quite fit in my skin feeling, where I just feel as though I might burst for no other reason than I can't contain myself.  It's not a bad way to feel, but it is very real.  And then, I feel this way on top of no sleep!  Quite a combination, let me tell you...the excitement of spring, the moon paving the way, it's all about growth, and that energy is literally in the air.

Next is the change of seasons period ... oh, I can't wait.  I am sure it will be epic!

 

The past is always there

Been a long, long time.  For months now I have had ideas of things to write swirling in my head, but since before Christmas it has been one thing or another that has disrupted my writing life -- be it the holidays, kids home on break, kids home on weekends to ski, kids ... they've always been so good at getting in the way (in a good way, of course!) Then we had trying to get my parent's condo ready, in the form of sorting through piles, then all of a sudden that was halted when there was a fire in their building, and then six weeks later all of those piles were transferred to their new home and required going through once again!  It's been an odd winter, when for the past four I was always somewhere down south with them, but this year it has been about getting them set up in their new digs.  Oh well.  Keeps life interesting I suppose.

But the biggest loser in this has been my writing, and oh how I have missed it.  Yesterday the kids and I were over at my parent's house and my father was showing us some old pictures.  My grandfather was an excellent archivist, and made sure the majority of pictures that he had were labeled.  For example, there is a picture of "Lisa Madden's great, great grandmother" that hangs in my living room.  Years ago, when Peter and I were cleaning out my grandfather's house to be sold, we came across two pictures in the attic that were in decent shape.  Peter asked me who they were, but of course I had no idea.  He carried them downstairs, and that was when we saw what my grandfather had written on the back of them.  How cool is that?  I still have yet to find out what her name is, though her daughter was Florence, who was my grandfather's mother, and she is shown in this fabulous picture, on the left, then her mother (Lisa Madden's great, great grandmother) is in the middle, but the picture is labeled "grammy!"  Oh, so close and yet so far to obtaining the woman's name!  On the right is Florence's sister, Antoinette, which is also labeled on the picture as never having been married.  Oh, the story a simple (and labeled) photograph can show.

The house is in Antrim, and I have countless memories of the house and grounds as my grandfather lived there the majority of his life.  Apparently Lisa Madden's great, great grandfather loved to build birdhouses, and I can remember much smaller versions in the back field when I was younger.  Or maybe it was my grandfather's father Tom who liked to build bird houses?  I get confused, and I would like to thank you, Grandpa, for labeling these photos, and I am sure you are seeing the fruits of your labor being appreciated.

This one is fun because of the story on the back: "Tom Madden (my father's grandfather) and my father, went in the ice business. Bought ice in Peterboro and delivered in Antrim during WW2.  Often the truck sat here with ice melting while he (my father) played baseball across the road and made the family furious."

Love it!

In this final photo, my great-grandmother Florence is at the top.  The photo is labeled "Ma at the top," and that is it.  So we can only use our imaginations as to why there were dressed so!

I have always felt a strong kinship to my Madden side, and this picture hangs in my dining room, and when I look at her (oh how I wish I knew her name!) I think we have similar features.

 

I apologize for the poor picture (with all of the reflections) but I took it off the wall and tried to picture it without light and it was too dark.  As you can see, as written on the back, she is ...

And all of the above is why it is so important to label photographs (though in this day and age they are put into a folder with the person's name on them I suppose).

One last aside, another picture that I looked at said that Florence (my father's grandmother) died at the age of 55.  My father doesn't remember how, and I was struck at how young that was.  And what about her mother?  Are there pictures of her grown old?  Makes me want to look through even more pictures!