New Fasting Moon Photo

The new fasting moon with venus, and the tower of the Oregon Convention Center. Not a half bad photo for a crap little camera :)

I have had a fascination with the moon for a number of years now. For almost a full year I watched the moon every night and learned how the phases work, and how the moon rise and set times vary across the moon cycle. To this day it is one of the few "scientific facts" I learned through observation and not through reading. A rare gift in this day and age.

During that time when I was watching the moon closely I came to love the first sighting of the new moon. It was like opening a present that had been sitting under the tree for weeks, or seeing dawn after a long, long night. It's kind of a fun contest - you know it's coming so every night you watch the western horizon as the sun is setting. If you are lucky you might see just the barest hint of a new moon one day, the next night you see the little crescent after the sun has gone down. That is my favorite night. You often see it when there is still light in the sky, and sometimes you can see the "earthshine" - the old moon in the new moon's arms.

I have this moon tattooed on me. It's an image I drew during my moon study time and it is tattooed, like a badge, on my right arm. It is the new moon with earthshine setting above a silhouette of pines on a ridge with Venus directly above the moon. I've never seen the moon and Venus like that since and I love the symbolism. The new moon, Venus and a pine tree - all wonderful totems to claim and have tattooed on my body. Happy new moon!