Road trips are not always as interesting as we might hope, especially when they cross familiar terrain. Returning to Missouri today, the journey across the Great Plains was far from exciting, despite the sunny, pleasant weather.
The dry winter landscape, relatively devoid of wildlife (except for numerous rough-legged hawks in Western Kansas) was not exactly scenic; indeed, only the rust-colored grasslands of the Flint Hills qualified for that designation. However, as I crawled through Kansas City during rush hour, the full December moon rose in the twilight of dusk.
Known as the Cold Moon, for obvious reasons, it is often especially bright as it gleams through the dry winter air. More than a beautiful natural nightlight, the moon reminds us of Earth's violent birth and early history, when our lone satellite was ripped away from the molten planet during its collision with a smaller planetoid (some 4.6 billion years ago). Pummeled and cratered by debris for millions of years, the moon gradually established its orbit but has since been drifting away. As brilliant as it was today, the moon was much larger and brighter in appearance when dinosaurs roamed the planet and when our first primate ancestors explored Earth's ancient forests.
The dry winter landscape, relatively devoid of wildlife (except for numerous rough-legged hawks in Western Kansas) was not exactly scenic; indeed, only the rust-colored grasslands of the Flint Hills qualified for that designation. However, as I crawled through Kansas City during rush hour, the full December moon rose in the twilight of dusk.
Known as the Cold Moon, for obvious reasons, it is often especially bright as it gleams through the dry winter air. More than a beautiful natural nightlight, the moon reminds us of Earth's violent birth and early history, when our lone satellite was ripped away from the molten planet during its collision with a smaller planetoid (some 4.6 billion years ago). Pummeled and cratered by debris for millions of years, the moon gradually established its orbit but has since been drifting away. As brilliant as it was today, the moon was much larger and brighter in appearance when dinosaurs roamed the planet and when our first primate ancestors explored Earth's ancient forests.
