December 2011

December’s full moon is called The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon –During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

When I read this I thought about how a long dark night occurs this month along side the holidays…and the holidays are certainly long and dark for many people..especially now. Then of course, I thought of John and remembered a story that was told to me once. Apparently he was always late for everything and while people were waiting for him to show up they would be complaining about him…only to completely forget about it when he showed up…I was told…when John came…the party started! Now, the question is…how did that happen? What the heck did he do that caused that to be his moniker? I know his friends may be able to answer it better than I can because they witnessed it…but I think that his success with people was that he gave them 100% of his attention…if you were to see him at a party you knew he was just so interested in whoever he was talking to…after my parents 50^th anniversary party he informed me that a friend of my fathers was a “home brewer” of beer…and I do think this was what got him going on that…because later on he joined the club that the man belonged to…he was the youngest member by a long shot…but he took from these people the love of brewing and a wealth of information (when he was old enough to enter a contest he won first prize …first time out of the gate!) 

John just was aware of the fact that other people have stuff to share…and it is so worth the effort to put yourself out there a little to find it out! He had to come into this life with this info…I certainly didn’t give that skill to him ( I knew that guy a long time and never knew that fact about him)… I think this skill of John’s created a person who everyone loved…because he would justify your existence by giving you all of himself…soooo… this month I thought it would be nice for us all to do the same…very difficult gift to give because many are so busy with lists and lists of “to dos”,  but, how about just doing simple things like looking into the eyes of a waitress or a clerk at the store when you shop and acknowledge them in some way…like looking into their eyes and saying thank you…so they know you really did mean it…We really don’t know what hardships others are carrying around…you may just be the one person who has been able to lift the spirits of another human…just by doing that…now that is a wonderful gift to give the world this month…and it costs nothing more than using your memory!!