Lace Curtains and the Billings Moon

This evening we saw what we call the Billings Moon. At 5:45 it peeked over a hill as we drove home on I-10 from Tucson. Unfortunately, the nearby hills rose faster and hid it for about seven minutes, but then there it was again, the Billings Moon. The sight of it reminded us of an e-mail post we sent out to family and friends in 2004 (this was WAY before we used Blogger!). Here is some of what we wrote that evening (no photos those days, sorry):

January 7, 2004, what a day. We spent a bunch of time in Lancaster, CA, doing business with Kaiser, Social Security, haircuts, grocery shopping. On the way home, we found a back highway that kept us off the freeways. Back in the RV Park, we did our laundry. Oh me, oh my, humdrum daily existence, but necessary for our life.

But then we went back to the “N” section at Soledad Canyon where we were parked. The sun was gone, and it was getting dark. As we approached our campsite, we saw the Billings Moon. The Billings Moon? Yes. Years ago, when we lived in Montana, we once in a while drove east to Billings on business. If the time was right and the moon was full, we would witness a spectacular moonrise. The moon appeared to be five times its usual size, orange-yellow in color, and dominant over everything. There was nothing to see except that moon.

This night we again saw that moon, this time rising over Lancaster, and beginning to fill the sky with its glory. To keep the image in our view, we circled around the camping area, and that’s when Suzy saw the lace curtains. We sat and watched the moon for a while, and Suzy told me about the lace curtains, the same type of curtains we had admired in a motorhome belonging to new friends we had met at Thanksgiving at a park near Hollister. She asked me to drive around again, and if that motorhome was an Endeavor, we were going to knock on the door. Sure enough, it was an Endeavor, and the folks inside were our friends Lloyd and Judy Burnthorn! We had a delightful 45-minute visit, reinforcing the new friendship that had developed less than two months before.

So, that’s the Billings Moon. We see it now and then, and this time wanted to share it with you. We were driving on the Interstate and did not have access to cameras. But if you watch at the time of full moon, maybe you also will see a Billings Moon some day!

We have lots more we want to write about; the problem is putting it all together in a single post. That’s a big challenge at this stage of … Our Life on Wheels.