Missing the moon

I was sitting in the laundromat on Tuesday evening, having just settled down in front of my whirring machines with a book, when my phone announced that I had received a text message. I don't get many of those, as I don't have a texting plan, so I looked at it right away. It was from my friend Meg, who wrote: "Go outside and look at the moon RIGHT NOW". That was it. My curiosity was piqued and I went outside to find the moon.

Except that I couldn't! I couldn't find it at all! I was on the corner of 130th and Lenox and looked in all directions, searching for it. I thought perhaps it was behind the buildings, so I crossed the street and started walking south toward 125th, where there are some empty lots and therefore a better chance of seeing the sky. I walked with my eyes to the sky, surely raising questions in the minds of the people I passed. I got to the corner of 125th & Lenox and still couldn't see it! I was really frustrated, because if Meg sent a text with that command, it must have been a good show. I returned to the laundromat, annoyed with the tall buildings and the wispy clouds that were likely hiding the visual prize I sought.

According to Meg it was a full orange harvest moon, quite a site to behold from her vantage point on the Brooklyn Bridge. An hour and a half later, leaving the laundromat, I found it. The clouds had moved away and the moon had risen high enough so as to clear the buildings. It was definitely full, but had returned to its normal color.