Out In The Night With The Supermoon

23 June 2013, past midnight

Before midnight, I went out to our back porch and surveyed the sky in search of the supermoon. It was nowhere to be found. Since our neighborhood is surrounded by several apartment buildings and towering trees, I figured out that perhaps, it was rolling horizontally behind those trees. A bit disappointed, I went back inside, thinking that I might miss it again this year like all the previous years that I had been watching out for it.

At past midnight, I looked out again through our window blinds in a desperate attempt to find it. This time, I espied a glow behind the foliage of the pine trees. I went out for the second time to check it out. It was the moon! And so big! Since I couldn't see the whole of it, I set out on a tour around the neighborhood to get a better view of it.

Finally, I was able to witness this phenomenon called perigee, the moon's closest point to earth. Even though midnight here is bright this time of the year, the moon's golden face glowed clearly amidst the semi-bright blue sky.

While I was shooting the moon in many angles, my eyes were drawn by fiery gleams of light in the part of the sky opposite the supermoon. Then I saw a pillar of light projecting across the streaks of blazing stratus clouds. Another light phenomenon that graced the sky in conjunction with the supermoon. What a midnight treat!

I went back home at past one in the morning, happy and satisfied. And I slept soundly and sweetly.

"(God) has made the moon for appointed times;

The sun itself knows well where it sets."

-Psalm 104:19

Queen of the Meadows

They flourish like the innumerable galaxies in the universe. They form a massive cloud like a nebula that fills the void of space. Their clustered flowers are like the clusters of galaxies that swirl in close proximity with one another. Being with them is like floating through a sparkling cosmos, causing the heart brim with cosmic happiness....

Ooops...I'm rambling again in my typical extra-terrestrial language. Can't help it. Such beauty easily transports me back to my home galaxy....aw!.... I'm drifting again.

Okay, back to earth, I'm talking about the Queen Anne's lace, anthriscus sylvestris or cow parsley, to be exact. These flowers presently predominate the meadows, roadsides and fringes of the little forests that are interspersed throughout our city. They transform an otherwise bare space to a stunning landscape. They're just awesome!

They also mingle with another flourishing occupants of the meadows, the buttercups. These little golden wildflowers have a similar charm like the cow parsleys. They lavishly blanket the meadows with the glow of a billions stars. Together they thrive in admirable harmony and subdue the ground in a delightful way.

And my heart was subdued by their queenly beauty that generated bliss.

If the "heavens are declaring the glory of God", so are these little wildflowers that He placed on earth to live with us every summer.

Unpampered Wanderlust

A couple of days more and Midsummer is here. Usually, during this season, we're out traveling somewhere, not just on the outskirts of our city, but farther in the south or up in the north, or in some nearby countries, in response to the whims of our wanderlust.

This summer, however, a temporary physical detriment has kept us from moving around. So we're stuck here in our city, waiting for some positive changes that will make possible for us to carry out our travel plans. I'm not disgruntled, though, knowing that I have plenty of worthwhile things to do and that my mind can take flight to anywhere in the universe and enjoy my imaginary earthly and intergalactic journeys. I can still walk around here and capture all the beauty of this summer. We can still drive through the countryside and feast our eyes on the verdancy of the open fields, the colorful flower meadows and the evergreen forests;  watch the farm animals grazing in the meadows or the birds flying overhead.

*****

First week of June, hubby and I traveled to Lycksele  (a place dubbed as the portal to the Lappland, which is almost two hours ride from our city) for a scheduled medical care, but was eventually cancelled for some reason.  So we went back home without accomplishing anything save for an information regarding my health status. Disappointing in some way, and yet relieving.

Driving along, we spotted several pine forests carpeted with cottongrass in full bloom. The awesome sceneries elated me! We pulled over to take pictures with our mobile phones, since I left my camera home.

Closer home, we caught sight of this dilapidated car transformed to a mini-garden with a towering birch tree standing through it. How ingenious!

*****

A few days later, a friend invited us to her family summer house in a village called Vännäs for a little festive gathering. It was a quiet neighborhood, a nice place to get away from the hurly-burly of city life. The house stands beside the river and has a very spacious lawn where we played games after the dinner.

*****

We also had the chance to take a look at Nydalasjön, a lake within our city frequented by the city dwellers because of its accessibility. Some people were having fun in the sauna floating on the lake, and so were those picknicking along its shores. That afternoon was cold and windy, sending us back to our car just as soon as our eyes had swept  around the lake.

*****

These, by far, are my wanderings this summer. They may not meausre up to the higher demands of my wanderlust, but just enough to satisfy me in this present condition and perk me up.

I still have the other half of summer to spend. Who knows what wonderful things await me in the next bend?