Last weekend we revived an old family tradition in which everyone – hunters, non-hunters, moms, dads, grandmas, toddlers, teething babies, restless teens, and anxious dogs get in a truck packed to the hilt with hunting garb and guns and head to eastern South Dakota for Opening Pheasant Weekend (OPW) – capitalized because the weekend is sacred. No family member can get sick, nor are they allowed to get married on this most holy weekend.
We took off Friday at 6:30, after Megan returned home from chauffeuring 3 ride-less kids home from school to various parts of Rapid City. Both kids looked forward to the night drive, especially Megan. “I love night driving so much you don’t even know”. The gentle hum of the warm truck and the enveloping blanket of stars invite the mind to wander and wonder. After about 3 hours of traveling, we came upon a rich, inviting sight: a harvest moon; low, golden. I broke the silence. “Where did the name ‘harvest moon’ come from anyway?” I googled, and found that the full moons around the autumnal equinox come earlier than other full moons, meaning, there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise. Farmers used to use the moonlight to bring in their crops during harvest season. Under the harvest moon, they could continue being productive even after the sun had set.
On Saturday I had the joy of seeing a good friend of mine from high school, Deb; we hadn’t seen each other in 20 years. It didn’t take long before old feelings revived; with her I was calm, confident, carefree. The sun had set on our time together in high school, but it was meaningful reconnecting with her under the moonlight of the harvest moon. Before Saturday, an imaginary strand that partially lined the round moon was attached at the top, lined the left side, but was dangling; pulled down by the gravity of lives moved on. The strand met weightlessness and fully encircled the bulging moon; and tied itself to the strand already at the top when we were recalling how our friendship came about in the first place.
An old family tradition, revived; even if only for one weekend. A friendship, long detached, now come full circle, with rejuvenated hopes of learning more about what has shaded the inside of the strands over all of these years. The zeitgeist of the time when farmers needed the harvest moon to illuminate their work has changed; traditions in that time died hard and friends stayed connected. Now, we need the harvest moon to illuminate the way to things we still hold dear but get lost in our daily shuffle.
Do you have relationship or a tradition upon which the sun has set; the chapter has closed? One that is aching to come full circle? I had the joy of four coming 'round this year. I’ve got another one on my mind. My challenge to you: be intentional about bringing one back around before next year’s OPW. The light of the harvest moon will show you the way.---alg
No comments:
Post a Comment