Loca Luna

Moonlight is mixed with magic.

Of that I am certain.

Its one of those life changing things that happened to me outside of Bombay.

I was walking down 13th street in Gaineville and had just passed the tennis courts. It was a very warm Florida night. The kind that would melt anyone. And I saw the pink neon sign that Arby's has and a translucent full moon floating above it. I knew then more than ever before that Life was about small minuscule moments like that when everything seemed possible.

One of the most lasting images I have of my life in the U.S is driving from Atlanta to Nashville on a cold February Friday evening and driving uphill to see the golden arches of a McDonald's in the distance and an equally yellow moon kissing them. And slowing down automatically to enjoy the sight.

In Atlanta - my favorite place to eat is Doc Che's near Emory Village. And if you are lucky and the time is right - you can walk out of Doc's, have the wind ruffle your hair just enough to warrant going to the Starbucks right across to soothe that restless spirit and look up to see a moon so silent that it fills the narrow street with his charm.

Or from my room in Stonewall -when I woke up with a start the first night I moved in to find my room lit up in streaks of silver and white. What a wow moment.

Luckily enough for me -I didn't have to leave the moon behind when I decided to leave everything else that made so much sense.

Now on the ISB campus - I wait. To leave dinner and walk on the paved way between the academic center and home and just as I turn a right and see the SV1 tower - I can see the moon smiling back on nights when the world is with me. Its the best thing on the ISB campus. No matter how brutal the day or how long the night. Always makes it a little easier on me.

I wonder what it is that binds me to it.

I think as humans we all long for certainty- for the familiar and I think thats what the moon is for me. A witness that I created. Maybe its symptomatic of one too many nights spent walking alone trying to find my way in the dark with just wisps of silver to show me the way.

A partner in solitude, laughter and angst. One that does not sleep, or change places. That is with me - even when the clouds mask his presence and the astrologers issue warnings.

That turns the tides of the world that I am learning to love and live in.

A faithful friend. That goes with me - to the darkest corners and back.

And here on the ISB campus - lulls me and comforts me and destresses me at a time when it seems like the skies must be crazy.

Loca Luna.