Celebrate the Fourth to the Fullest

July's full moon, aka The Full Buck Moon

During a chat with birding buddy Karin this afternoon she asked the obligatory question, “So, how ya gonna celebrate the holiday? Going to any fireworks?”

For me, there’s no easy answer to that question when it involves a holiday where no gifts are exchanged, but it did make me think about how others will be celebrating.

In fact, sitting on the deck last night, watching the near-full moon rise (or the Earth turn—whatever) I thought about the noise and chaos that surrounds typical Fourth of July celebrations here in America. And how peaceful it would be to have a natural fireworks display. Tree branches occasionally obscured my view and clouds drifted between me and Luna, adding color and action to a scene that otherwise had little action or color.

So here’s how I plan to celebrate the 236^th birthday of America in hopes that our founding fathers and mothers did it this same way. (I’ll assume you begin the count at 1776 with the declaration and not 1787 with the signing of the Constitution. It’s complicated.) ((An aside: Using one of my astronomy programs I turned back time to the night sky of July 4, 1776 and learned that the full moon had been on July 1 that year, however, that does not change the theme of this story.)) I plan to watch the just-past full moon (July 3, 2012 is full moon night) and enjoy the erratic flashing display of golden color provided by fireflies. Maybe a shooting star if I'm lucky.

I guess I just prefer celebrating things in a quieter, more contemplative manner. Instant gratification doesn’t do it for me any longer.

A few clouds, a bit of air pollution and wow!

Look at that moon! July 2, 2012