'Lookout' for the SuperMoon

The Interwebz are all ablaze this week with chatter about the current "SuperMoon" — a slang term for when the Moon is at perigee (closest approach to Earth) each year. I frequently step outside all times of year to look at Mother Moon sailing through the sky, and love watching Her as She watches me! 😊

My sister-in-law (my late-husband's sister, not my brother's wife) is not so steady on her feet these days, so she asked me if I'd take her on a short ride in the car so she could see the Moon more easily without having to step outside in the dark and find a place to get a good view without uneven ground and trees in the way. So, we did that last night, stopping first at Burger King™ for milkshakes (she got chocolate, while I got vanilla) and then toodling to a few spots for good lunar views.

One of my favorite spots in the entire county is a small mountain not far from where I live, only 6.5 km/4 miles away, not far at all. It is a pretty little mountain, too, covered with beautiful trees, but also has a couple of spots where there are good views of the surrounding countryside.

At the top of the mountain, there is an old tower. When I was a child, it was used by the US Forest Service as a fire lookout tower^[1] during dry seasons when wildfires could easily start. During those times, a Forest Ranger would climb into the tower's cabin and keep watch. It was a perfect location, being a monadnock^[2], with the nearest peak that's taller being several km/miles away. If a potential fire was spotted, a device called an alidade^[3] could be used to obtain an exact direction of the fire. Using this along with binoculars and a detailed topographical map, he could estimate where the fire was located and alert fire suppression crews via two-way radio to go to the location and check. Sometimes, it might actually be a wildfire, but sometimes it might also be a "controlled burn" of some brush. Regardless, it was always prudent to check, in order to prevent damage to precious wooded areas or homes nearby.

I always wanted to see what the view was like at the top of that tower! But, it was only there for US Forest Service personnel, and the stairwell was locked when a Forest Ranger was not there. Perhaps if I had visited when a Ranger was there, he might have let me climb into the tower's control room for a brief peek, but I was too shy to try that. So, I remained content with what little could be seen from a couple spots at ground level. 😂

So, after our excursion to the top of the mountain last night, we drove down a different road to see the Moon from a different spot. It was a lovely drive, with the entire landscape bathed in the soft light of Mother Moon! 😊

NOTE: the little bump in the above photo is not the mountain with the tower, it is another landform nearby. The mountain with the tower is behind me as I took the above photo. I have written about the small mountain we climbed, the one with the tower, in a previous post, if anyone is interested in reading more about it and seeing some additional photos. But thank you for coming with me on this little adventure!