Today I had to make a little walk at night between a local and my home. I was alone, and a bit frightened as the road that lead to the main one passed through a bit of swamp-like vegetation(trees and such), so it was quite dark there. I saw bats and heard frogs...
When I got to the main road though I felt relieved. I have to say that I was outside all day in hot sun at 32C(unusual for this time period), and the night air felt comforting and very breathable... it was a calming sensation.
I noticed the beautiful, almost full moon shining with an intense halo on the almost clear sky. I always admire celestial objects, especially the moon. We have a very popular poet(the last great romantic of Europe), Mihai Eminescu, that says in one of his poems(I'm not good at translating poetry though):
(you can skip the poem if you like, it's anyway a bit tl;dr already for some, the conclusion is the last sentence actually...)
"Moon, lord of the seas, you slide on the world's arch(sky)
And giving life to thoughts, you darken the grief
Thousands of deserts sparkle under your light
And how many forests hide in shadow the shining of springs!
On how many waves your reign extends
When you float on the moving loneliness of the seas!
How many blossomed shores, what palaces and strongholds
Crossed by your charm you show them to yourself!
And in how many homes you entered gently through the windows
How many heads full of thought, thoughtful you observe!
You see a king that plans the globe for centuries
When at the next day a poor hardly thinks of
Though remarkable steps have been given to them from the urn of fate
They're ruled alike by your light and the genial of death
To the same path of passions are alike subjected slaves,
The weak and the powerful, the genius and the foolish [...]"
I am not really entitled to translate such a piece of art, I assure you the the poem is actually a masterpiece( it is studied at school). I feel sorry I can't display it in its original perfection.
It is useless to re-explain what I felt when watching it, the poem displays my thought exactly.
At a point, a few moments after I looked at the moon, I thought again about this calming effect of the night air, and looked around me. Ah, the grace of the subtle shadows being cast from the trees, the grass carpet of the fields that would tickle and massage my feet, the still rocks that inspire eternal patience, the pacifying sounds of the splashing waves... I thought as if I could rip my clothes off right there and integrate myself in the surrounding nature. I just felt like I wanted something more than simple admiration for the nature. It was a wonderful feeling of calm, of freedom, as if peace has finally settled around me and I could hardly give a damn about stressful problems of the future...
It was a feeling that disappeared once I started walking around people again. It is very hard to live that feeling again, it can only happen in special circumstances, like the ones that happened today.
I feel relaxed.
I image that poem is very good in it's original language, and I can definitely see that the point it's getting across is a good one.
I used to be really bored by the moon, until i watched a bbc special and learned all the amazing things the moon has done and continues to do for the earth... Such as, life may have never moved from water to the land without tidal areas, which are caused by the moons gravity "stretching" the earth.
Anyway, as I went out with Fred I noticed that the sky was cloudless, and the moon was full and bright to the point where everything was visible for some distance, and bathed in a silvery glow. I turned off the torch and walked with Fred as we checked around the land for signs of the fox. It was quite a beautiful night.