My Memorable Moon-Watching

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Monda
by Monda
30-Jan-2010
 

Last night I was having tea in my back yard when my astrology-savvy friend up north called to make sure I planned to catch the most fantastic full moon tonight. I assured him that I was all over it, that in fact the voyage started last night. I caught an hour of the promisingly big moon surrounded with thick fog where I was, right after I found out that my beloved Howard Zinn had passed away. Looking at the moon in the dark, has always soothed me. It takes me to some calm introspective place that not that many other natural elements can. Well perhaps excluding the ocean on a sunny day. Anyway, I was feeling sad and watching the fog and haze over and around the moon did something for me. When I went to bed I still peaked from my bedroom window in hope of seeing my moon cleared of fog. Around 2 am I gave up and fell asleep right there by my window.

This late afternoon my daughter called me from work to see if I was interested in going for Japanese food with her friend and her mom. I told her what a terrific time I was having drinking my tea under the most Amazing Full Moon. I urged her to come home after work to see what I meant. She had read about it, wanted to see it but still wanted to go for Japanese. So we decided she and her friend go to dinner while moms did something else.

Instead of going for Shabu Shabu, I asked my friend to join me on the Bay with our sleeping bags and thermoses full of hot sake. She loved the idea. It was 43 degrees by the Bay and windy but I was very comfortable in my thermals under ski jacket inside my sleeping bag. This was probably one of the most memorable nights ever. The enormous brightness had in her close vicinity the deep orange Mars fiercely shining. They both just took my breath away, in the way they shared the sky like that, with all other silver stars around them. I had forgotten the wonders moon-watching can do to my state of mind - tonight I was supremely reminded of it. My friend Kitti and I did not speak for over an hour except for occasional humming and cooing.

The most engaging designs I saw in the moon tonight chronologically were an anchor, a child standing on a bed of flowers with a giant butterfly to his upper left, a horse jumping in front of an ocean and a giant hungry scorpion.

My friend told me no matter how long she looks she still sees in a full moon, even this one, the bunny rabbit churning the pot of sake! This is what Japanese folklore offered children of her generation. I thought it was very sweet but gently encouraged her to look for her own stories. She did see a sailing ship and giant ocean waves close to the time she was done with her sake. The tip of my nose and ears were numb from the cold wind. Walking back to the car we talked about other moon-related stories in our lives. Over the years of knowing me she had already laughed about the supposed sightings of imams and Khomeini in the moon. She asked if regime has come up with any new ones. I didn't know. So we started on our childhood moon-related memories, while walking back to the car. I asked her if she had heard my favorite one. She couldn't remember.

I was 10, rocking on a chair next to my most favorite person in the world, my aunt Ammehjoon Meehan. We were in Maygoon at their vacation home across from Ghassre Keyhan. For dinner we ate Fatemeh's fantastic kashk bademjoon with tons of fried garlic. Ammejoon always had her dessert, khorma or candy with tea on the wrap around balcony surrounded by the dark outlines of the mountains where we hiked during the day. She was smoking her nightly cigarette humming Mon Amour while sucking abnabaat ghaychi. I told her I thought the crunching noise of that candy interfered with her singing. She smiled her warmest, kindest smile and said, "azizam eenghadr hassaass nabaash" (my dear don't be so sensitive)... then my cousins joined us and they had moshaaereh with my oldest cousins and of course Ammehjoon leading. I enjoyed listening to their excited tones, not so much the poetry. I was absorbed by their facial nunaces, their voices, the faux-competitive gestures they made when they were hit with a difficult letter... Then my uncle, Ammejoon's husband, a subdued introspective law professor, walked in with a serious expression of concern on his face, "Meehan do you and your posse need to be so loud when I'm busy watching the moon? How about bringing children closer to the nature now, take a break from the two poets that you have memorized?"

Ammehjoon lovingly agreed with her husband and trying on a serious face, asked us to pay silent respect to the Moon. Us five kids sat there staring at the beautiful bright full moon quietly for about two minutes until we heard Mash Mammad and his wife Fatmeh making love in their room way over the ghannat-filled swimming pool. I was confused by their sounds. But finally followed everyone's burst into unstoppable laughter! This time my uncle joined us too.... This was one of the happiest moments of my life.

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Monda

Aakh gofti Holly joon, oon maah kojaa va een kojaa

by Monda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 09:51 PM PST

 

I'm experiencing a manic-depressive state, reading divaneh's funny comment, then listening to the featured uprising clip, then reading Setareh Sabety's, now here again reading your comment.  

Glad you liked it.  shab bekhair aziz.  


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HollyUSA

LOL Monda

by HollyUSA on Mon Feb 01, 2010 09:34 PM PST

@ 'goshnamoon shod'. Munchies??

On Friday I read that we were going to see the 'Wolf Moon' that night so while at my friend's I excused myself to go outside and watch it for a while. It was so damn bright. Vali hanooz hichi messle moon watching'e shabhaye tabestoon Iran nemisheh :/

Thanks for the lovely story.


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Monda

dp

by Monda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 09:23 PM PST

.


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Monda

no divaneh

by Monda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 09:22 PM PST

We only went back to the car to leave sleeping bags in the car and to get her marijuana out. Then I had this incredible carmel balsamic gelato and my friend had black sesame - goshnamoon shod. Both highly recommended flavors, YUM! Then I could drive home fine.


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divaneh

Beautiful and Educational

by divaneh on Mon Feb 01, 2010 04:14 PM PST

So Monda, you knocked up a full thermos of hot sake and then staggered to your car to drive home after you had seen strange shapes in the moon?? hmmm! I am glad you didn't take the girls with you on this educational trip.

I liked your childhood memory about moon watching. I never knew Kashk Bademjoon was such aphrodisiac. I will try to eat more kashk bademjoon from now on, but moon watching is not for me. The last time that I was watching the moon, I bumped to a lamp post.


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yolanda

....

by yolanda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 10:53 AM PST

Hi! Monda,

      LOL! I wanted to revise my post, but someone replied already, so it is stuck permanently.....:O)

Should I flag my post? Is my post that bad? :O)

Please take care!

yolanda

P.S. You are amazing 'cause I recall you mentioned you raised $7000 for the school district...George Lucas donated, too.....You beat IC's fund-raising campaign.....last time, I heard IC raised $6,500.


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Monda

Yolanda jan,

by Monda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 10:09 AM PST

Don't push me... I'm this close to writing a blog about YOU :o)

If you consider yourself Nobody, then I'm Nobody too.  But either piece doesn't jive with my logic of our being on IC. Hence my request to you for Reframe. 


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yolanda

.....

by yolanda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 04:21 PM PST

Hi! Monda,

       LOL! We can go back and talk about moon more, right? You are funny! You have a vivid imagination! You thought I am in Iceland or Zimbabwe, OMG!

thanks again for your story!


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Anonymouse

No problem! (no progress ;-) and thank you for the note.

by Anonymouse on Mon Feb 01, 2010 08:37 AM PST

Everything is sacred.


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Monda

Oops Anonymouse, my sincere Apologies!

by Monda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 08:33 AM PST

My vibes were totally Off on that piece.

I really appreciate your likemindedness here in IC. 


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Anonymouse

Monda jaan I meant many people (and ideas) to cover

by Anonymouse on Mon Feb 01, 2010 08:26 AM PST

Not sure how we got into this but if I read your comment correctly I have mentioned it before that I'm (happily) married! 

Now if we're talking about liking someone's blogs or articles, sure Yolanda has liked some of my blogs as well as others who provide positive feedback and I've thanked them all.  We write to comunicate with each other and acceptance in the community is appreciated ;-) 

Everything is sacred.


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Monda

Agree on much to cover!

by Monda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 08:11 AM PST

baba jan can I just make suggestions out of the blue?  besides I don't even know how geographically/ physically possible that may be.  Yolanda could be in Iceland for all we know (they have beautiful national Parks)... or you could be in Zimbabwe... who knows?

Anonymouse it's all about compatibility which is minimally accessible through the net, you know that.  I'm sure Yolanda knows it very well too. 

Yolanda jan, please reframe your last comment, it doesn't read write. 


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yolanda

......

by yolanda on Mon Feb 01, 2010 06:40 AM PST

Hi! Monda,

     I am absolutely nobody here...can we concentrate on the "moon" instead of me? "Moon" is way better topic...LOL!

Well, you know moon very well. Look at the long post you wrote about moon!


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Anonymouse

Monda jaan Yolanda is getting to know everyone So much to cover!

by Anonymouse on Mon Feb 01, 2010 05:29 AM PST

Everything is sacred.


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Hovakhshatare

Not Meygooni. Japanese. Roughly means: 'It's good. No?'

by Hovakhshatare on Sun Jan 31, 2010 09:00 PM PST

You figured it right already.


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Monda

is that Meygooni dialect, Hovakh?

by Monda on Sun Jan 31, 2010 07:38 PM PST

translations please?  Yes sake is great, No hangover.


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Monda

have Yolanda and Mouse met yet?

by Monda on Sun Jan 31, 2010 07:35 PM PST

you seem to be on the same page about many things... no pressure, just an observation :o)


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Monda

Princess jan here's the real story

by Monda on Sun Jan 31, 2010 07:33 PM PST

(How could I forget Sirius?!)  Spot the year's biggest Full Moon

Watch the brilliant Moon and Mars arc across the sky. Michael E. Bakich, senior editor

On Friday night, January 29/30, if you think the Moon is shining down on you with a special brilliance, you're right. That's because it's the nearest Full Moon of 2010.

At closest, our natural satellite will lie roughly 221,600 miles (356,630 kilometers) from Earth. Compare that to the Moon's average distance of 238,855 miles (384,800 km) from Earth. This distance difference translates into a late-January Full Moon whose area is nearly 12 percent larger than average.

"Astronomically, there's nothing special about Friday night's Moon," said Astronomy Contributing Editor Raymond Shubinski. "But it does help teach that the Moon's orbit is elliptical, not circular. Sometimes it's closer to Earth, and at other times it's farther away."

Along with the year's biggest Full Moon, a special treat awaits skywatchers. In the early evening look for Mars less than 7° north-northeast of the Moon. You won't have any trouble spotting Mars. The Red Planet will glow with an intense orange-white light, and only Sirius, the brightest of all the nighttime stars, will outshine it. But Sirius is blue-white and lies one-quarter of the way across the sky to the southwest.

Friday night marks the point in the martian orbit known as opposition. It lies opposite the Sun in the sky as we see it from Earth. At opposition — which occurs every 26 months — Mars rises at sunset, climbs highest in the sky at midnight, and sets at sunrise.

Oh, and just so you know, the farthest Full Moon of 2010 will occur August 24, when Luna will lie some 248,500 miles (400,000 km) away.


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Hovakhshatare

you had me at hot sake

by Hovakhshatare on Sun Jan 31, 2010 07:02 PM PST

ii des, nee?

 


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yolanda

.........

by yolanda on Sun Jan 31, 2010 06:32 PM PST

Hi Mouse,

    Your camping story is funny! Thank you! Wow! You know Maz Jobrani....& JJ was lazy! OMG!


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Monda

You guys are so supportive and kind!

by Monda on Sun Jan 31, 2010 05:08 PM PST

Thank You my favorite writers and friends here!  I just can't wait to read Your Moon stories.

Looking back Mash Mammad was just Hot! So was Fatmeh! Fatmeh looked a lot like Rossana Podesta and Mash Mammad had this young version of Spencer Tracy thing going for him.... Even when I saw them last in 1997. Their daughter Golaabatoon could run for Beauty contest at any age, I swear.


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Anonymouse

Speaking of camping, we used to push JJJ to go camping w/ us ;-)

by Anonymouse on Sun Jan 31, 2010 04:58 PM PST


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yolanda

.....

by yolanda on Sun Jan 31, 2010 04:40 PM PST

Hi Monda,

    I agree with you that:

I find myself the most spiritual within the purity of Nature. 

Camping is always fun 'cause you can breathe fresh air, there is no air pollution, no light pollution, and no traffic jam....yon can have picnic, camp fire, see the wildflowers and pretty scenery....

If you go camping, don't forget to take some pictures and do a photo essay 'cause you are a great writer...


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Azadeh Azad

Great moon-watching story

by Azadeh Azad on Sun Jan 31, 2010 04:25 PM PST

... beautifully written. Thanks.

Azadeh


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Anonymouse

I remember looking for astronauts landing and moon looked sharp!

by Anonymouse on Sun Jan 31, 2010 04:15 PM PST

I remember being able to see all the sharp lines when it was full moon.  I could see the hills and canyons and even looked closer with a cheap telescope!  I may have even seen Neil Armstrong changing a flat tire on moon!

But now my eyes aren't as good and lines are fuzzy but moon is still pretty cool! 

Everything is sacred.


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Ari Siletz

That's amore

by Ari Siletz on Sun Jan 31, 2010 03:31 PM PST

Wonderful read.

OK JJ, I'll post a moon story, soon after you post yours. Also looking forward to reading pages from other lunar diaries.


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ebi amirhosseini

Monda jaan

by ebi amirhosseini on Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:57 PM PST

Dast Marizaad.

sepaas

Ebi aka Haaji


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Faramarz

مش ممدِ فضا نورد

Faramarz
Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:11 AM PST

Nice Story Monda. Full of interesting details 

Who could have thought that Mash Mammad was such a lover! I can picture him telling Fatemeh

 

ميان ِ ماه ِ من تا ماه ِ گردون

تفاوت از زمين تا آسمان است

 


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Princess

Priceless ending!:)

by Princess on Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:51 AM PST

Monda jaan,

On friday afternoon I went for my daily run in a near-by park. It was still light outside, but you could see this huge beautiful perfect disk of the moon against the clear light blue sky. Just looking at it seemed to fill me joy.

When I got home, later I stumbled upon an article that said this would the "biggest and brightest full moon of 2010". I enjoyed reading how you witnessed this special full moon (14% wider and 30% brighter than the lesser fool moons of the year) in a special setting, but I particularly enjoyed your story of "many moons ago" with the priceless ending.


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Jahanshah Javid

Moon memories

by Jahanshah Javid on Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:06 AM PST

So beautiful Monda. What a great idea to go moon watching in the San San Francisco, even in cold, windy conditions. And your childhood memory at your aunt's house was very sweet.

This could be the first of many moon stories. Does anyone else have one or two? Please share in your blog. I have at least one. I will post soon.


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