Moonstruck

I know that I said this blog will be bagpipe-centric and I wouldn't write about my family so much. But what can I say, my family is the most important thing in my life. Besides, I just had to share what happened last night because it was such a touching moment. Plus I know that if I don't write this down now, I'll eventually forget about it until I'm senile. At which point I'll be reminiscing out loud and everyone else will think I'm babbling nonsense (much like it is already). Anyways....do you remember the first time you ever saw the moon?

Neither do I. But last night was Emma's night of discovery. Watching her see the brightly-lit moon for the very first time was amazing. She had a pure sense of awe in her eyes and at the same time seemed emotionally attached to it, if that's possible. It was as if she was an explorer who had no prior knowledge of the Grand Canyon yet stumbled upon it by accident and fell in love at first sight. Watching her experience this discovery was absolutely incredible.

It all started a couple of days ago when I was reading her "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. Which should be in every kid's bookshelf in my opinion. But anyways, I digress. On one page, Max is sailing away by the light of the moon. For months now, Emma would point to Max's little sailboat and say, "Boat! Boat!". I never thought to point out the moon until now, which I did. She repeated after me and said, "Moon...Mooon...Moon".

Fast forward to yesterday afernoon, not quite dusk, when I take Emma for a ride across town to pick up dinner. We're cruising along when she yells from the back seat, "MOON!!!" Sure enough there it was, not too high in the sky and about half full. She was so happy, she kept calling out "Moon! Moon! Moon!". That is until it disappeared behind the trees to soft lamentations, "Bye Moon...Bye Moon". That is until it reappeared, "Moon! Moon! Moon!" and disappeared again, "Bye Moon...Bye Moon". This cycle went on for the rest of the car ride with the only interruptions being "Airplane! Airplane!" and "Bird! Bird!".

But the very best part of the story happened later that night, when the sun had finally set and the moon hung there in the sky. In fact, we could look out the living room window from the comfort of our sofa and see it through the trees. Even though it was her bedtime, I wrapped her up in a blanket and carried her outside for a better look. She was completely enraptured. She simply stared and whispered, "Hi Moon". Then she saw some stars and pointed them out to me, "More Moon...More Moon". Sorry, Honey, those are stars, "Stars Stars". She already knew that word from one of her favorite lullabies, but now she knows what the lullaby is about. Anyways, back to the moon.

I called my wife over to the window so she could witness this pure and untainted discovery firsthand. We just watched her watching the moon and couldn't be more thrilled. When I said, "time to go night-night" she replied, "Bye Moon". Emma is now in love with the moon.

Although I don't remember the first time I discovered it, watching my first daughter discover the moon herself is way more meaningful. Hopefully, I can share in Ava's discovery too. And now that I've written this down, perhaps I stand a chance to remember this moment and we can talk about it together when she grows up.