Full Cold Moon

Sunday, about 4:30 pm, we took the dinghy to shore, climbed over to the ocean side, and waited for the moonrise.  Waited while the sun set behind the lighthouse.

Searching the horizon for the moon.

Watching intently.

Finally, there it was.  Emerging from the distant clouds.

Rising over the ocean.

Painting the ocean gold.

Frankly, I thought it would look bigger – this is a “full cold moon,” the first supermoon of 2017.  “Cold” because it’s the first full moon in December – a cold month; and a “supermoon” because its fullness coincides with the moon’s perigee – when the moon comes closest to the earth within its elliptical orbit.  A supermoon looks larger and appears brighter.  See:  space.com.  Another full moon in perigee will occur Jan. 1 and on Jan. 31, we’ll have the second full moon of January, making it a blue moon.

But the moon was still gorgeous.  And it was a beautifully warm and calm evening to be walking the beach and riding in the dinghy.  Just FYI, we’re still in the low 80’s during the day and about 70 at night, although a front coming through later this week might drop us 5 degrees or so.  (I’m including our temps only because I checked y’all’s weather this morning.  Come visit.)