Moon | The Beauty Around Us

The Moon AND an Airplane

For some time I have wanted to capture a photograph of the moon with an airplane. I accomplished that goal this evening!

Waxing Crescent Moon
22% of the moon is illuminated.

Moonrise of Super Moon

Bob and I traveled about an hour from home to Mayville, New York, to watch the super moon rise up over Chautauqua Lake.

Moonrise of Super Moon over Chautauqua Lake

Faux Lighthouse with Moonrise

It was well worth the drive!

This evening I was sitting on our picnic pavilion, reading. I finished the book I was reading (“Summer Secrets” by Barbara Freethy) and decided to go inside. I saw the moon, as I stepped off the picnic pavilion. There was no question in my mind what I had to do. I went inside for my camera and tripod!

First Quarter; 53% of the moon is illuminated.

The Super Moon

This evening’s full moon was closer to Earth than it has been in more than 18 years. Tonight’s moon has been referred to as a “super moon”. I had hoped to capture a picture of the moon close to the horizon. I missed the fact, though, that the moon had to crest a hill before I would be able to see it. I did manage to get a decent picture of the “super moon”, albeit sized smaller than I expected.

The “Super Moon”

Not Quite Full

Waxing Gibbous
99% of the moon is illuminated.

Tomorrow’s moon will be a super moon. The moon will be closer to Earth than it has been in more than 18 years.

“American Idol” vs. Full Moon

“American Idol” is one of my favorite shows. I missed most of it last night because I was outside looking at (and photographing) the full moon. The moon was breathtakingly beautiful last night, as it moved gracefully in and out of clouds. It is a good thing that the street on which I live is not busy at nighttime. The best view of the moon was from the far side of my street. My being on the side of the street, with a tripod set in front of me, caught only one driver by surprise.

By the way I did get to watch my three favorite “American Idol” performers — Crystal Bowersox, Michael Lynche and Casey James. I feel that Michael and Casey both outperformed Crystal last night; however, Crystal is still my #1 favorite idol.

Weekend in Pittsburgh, Day 1

Bob and I are spending the weekend in the Pittsburgh area. Bob came home from work at noon today, as is customary on Fridays. We left for our hotel shortly after Bob came home from work.

After settling into, and relaxing in, our room at the Springhill Suites Pittsburgh Mills hotel, we went to dinner at Olive Garden. We made one stop on our way to the restaurant. We stopped at Best Buy, where Bob purchased a 320GB hard drive for his laptop computer. We enjoyed our dinners of Five Cheese Ziti (Bob) and Lasagna (me), along with Garden-Fresh Salad and breadsticks.

After dinner we went to the Pittsburgh Mills shopping center, with one purpose in mind — to walk off some of the dinner that we had just eaten! I made one purchase while at the mall. I bought a book called “Photoshop Elements Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks” by Rob Sheppard at the Borders bookstore. I was browsing the book shelf containing photography how-to books, and this book caught my attention.

We returned to the hotel but realized that we had forgot to make one stop, at Walmart. Bob picked up a new pair of contacts before leaving home. He needed a second contact lens case. We left our room one more time and drove over to Walmart.

After picking up the contact lens case and soft drinks at Walmart, we returned to our hotel. As we walked towards the hotel, I caught glimpse of a bright light in the sky. I stepped back to get a better view. What I saw made me grab my camera when we reached our hotel room and go back outside.