🎵 I’m being followed by a moon shadow 🎶
Under the glow of the largest super blue moon of this century, we paddled with glowing kayaks and red headlamps; giving thanks for the camaraderie of these very special friends we have here in Pinawa.
The Pinawa Ritual
At least once a summer season our intrepid group of Pinawa adventurers indulge in a full moon paddle ritual. Usually we launch our boats, a mix of kayaks and canoes, near sunset. We paddle around the river a bit, returning at dusk under a rising full moon.
In honour of the special super blue moon last night, we decided to watch the moonrise from a picnic in Crater Lake. We returned in darkness with only the lights of our headlamps and the glowing orange (not blue at all) moonlight.
Meet the gang: Ken and Louise Young, Christine and Danny Blowers, Kim and Eleanor Reimer, Adele and Dale Stiles and us, Donna and Ray Warenko.
The Paddle
The meetup spot is Canoe Bay, Pinawa. Around 6 PM the boats start to roll in. Christine and Danny are first, already enjoying a bit of a paddle before the rest of us arrive. Adele and Dale drove in from their cottage. Kim and Eleanor had to rush home from the city. Ken and Louise came putting around the corner, their canoe equipped with a small electric motor. We just had to walk across the street.
Tucker was happy to be coming along but took great exception to putting on his life jacket. He decided to escape this injustice by jumping into the river. There he was, standing in the murky water with nowhere to go. Luckily Danny paddled in close enough for Tucker to climb onto his kayak. I’m sure he thought he’d outsmarted us, but he did eventually end up in the proper boat wearing the proper safety equipment.
When everyone was present and accounted for we set out for a short paddle into Crater Lake. Here in Pinawa we are blessed to live on the edge of the Canadian Shield wilderness. Within minutes one can be far away from any of the lights and noises of civilization.
The Moon
Tonight’s moon is a blue moon, so named not because it will be blue, but because it’s the second full moon of the month. It’s also a super full moon. Tonight the moon is the closest to the earth for the year, 350,000 kilometres to be exact, the average being about 384,000 k. The last time we might have seen this combination was 27 years ago. The next time will be 92 years from now, in 2115. As we sat around the fire, munching on sandwiches and watching the sunset, we surmised that this was surely our one and only chance to witness this.
As the sun set in the west, we turned our attention to the sky in the southeast. We had to coax her up, as she arrived later than her anticipated arrival of 8:36 PM. It was Louise who went for a pee who first saw her, peaking through the forest on the horizon.
The moon rose to appropriate ooo’s and ahhh’s. She was not blue at all but rather quite remarkably orange. For a super moon she shed less light than we would have hoped.
We threw water on our fire and loaded up the boats in the darkness. Headlamps switched to red, some kayakers put them under their bows creating an ominous glow in the water. We paddled home as the moon rose higher in the sky.
Gratitude
The full moon is a time for meditation and reflection. I find myself feeling so grateful; for these friends, for our health, for this wilderness I live in.
We toasted tonight – živjeli – “to life!” in Croatian. The next full moon will find this same intrepid group celebrating on a beach somewhere in Split, Croatia where we are all traveling to for a little cycling adventure.
Life is good.
