Malevolent Moon

The day felt unsettled today. It shouldn't have. There was a lazy sun creeping over the morning parameter that felt nurturing. There is copious foliage all around me showing its fall colors like a wanton hussy. The retinue of work responsibilities seemed light today. I had little to fear. But I felt uneasy all day.

I noticed edgy moods from colleagues and experienced weird outbursts related to things so completely out there, I suspected a perfect storm of PMS cohesion. Everything seemed off kilter the entire day. It was freaky. It was one of those days that by 2:30 pm, you're ready to go home, have a cup of tea and go straight to bed in order to commit a wasted day to history.

I didn't go home at 2:30, obviously. I had meetings to attend to and work to do. I soldiered on. I left at 6:30 and headed toward Manhattan. The traffic was erratic all the way home. Other drivers were impatient and reckless. At one point near Yankee Stadium, I nearly had an accident with *excuse me* some goddamn motherfucking inconsiderate piece of shit who couldn't be bothered to slow down in order for me to move out of an exit lane into the ongoing traffic. I admit that tonight I drove more angry than usual but I was just adapting myself to the mood of the traffic riding mob. I didn't have my natural groove on the road; tonight it felt like a scene out of "Mad Max."

After I parked and departed my garage in the City, I stepped out into a warm evening.There were throngs of populace on the street and the assembled were boisterous. It seemed dangerous. The usual stoop squatters seemed malevolent tonight--they were lurking shadow people; ready to charge you from behind and slit your throat for your ATM card. Of course, they weren't really such scary fiends. It was merely the adverse persuasion of the day.

So what was the source of such discord of the day? I'll tell you. It was the moon. You rotten bastard moon.

I have a classic amour fou relationship with the moon. It can loom low and heavy and invoke a lonely longing. That's a sweet moon. It can hover orange and distorted and predict a cool change of season. It can float high among our peripheral in a stark, naked winter evening. Regardless of the season, when it chooses to come full, a certain madness ensues.

It was full tonight. I spied it walking from my garage (whilst keeping my eyes on the dangerous elements posted at every turn). The moon sat nestled in a scallop of evening clouds, like an aged showgirl wrapped in a Bob Mackie ostrich feathered gown. Yet through the layers of clouds, the outlines of this dangerous old moon shone through. While I am beguiled by the moon, I am not fooled. This particular cycle was meant to influence the fears of mortal man. It may be more benevolent in the next cycle. Not now.

When I think about my own fears of the full moon, that which exemplifies a scary and evil moon capable of inflicting misdeeds on mere mortals, I think of the moon personified in the Georges Melies film, "Le Voyage Dans la Lune." This film was made in 1902, based on a Jules Verne fantasy. It's incredibly dark and portrays the moon with a human face and a surface consistent with blue cheese. That image always scared the bejesus out of me. This moon looks vindictive, vengeful. It's been 40 years since I saw this film for the first time and I've yet to exorcise its significance whenever a bad cycle of the full moon occurs.

It'll soon pass.