1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

8...The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. 

14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Tonight the moon looks a lot like it did last night. 

It was being hid (not hiding, there's a difference) by the forceful presence of jutting pines far to the west, where the trees link inky black fingers and arms together, trying to communicate themselves to the solitary luminary standing before them, attempting to hold back the white radiance before it slips lightly past them, to the fields and valleys beyond. 

By 10.00 it will look like the moon broke free from the over-protective pines, struck out on its own somehow, spun like a marble across the indigo sky. 

I will see it right above the garage, out of place in a world of tools and machines. 

As wintertime approaches, the wolves start to howl--not around my house, but somewhere--and the common misconception is that wolves howl AT the moon. 

   Raising their voices, they point their faces upward for the acoustical effects, not moon worship, and as they howl, their voice cries out up to ten miles, alerting other wolves to gather, or warn a fellow wolf, or help a member of the pack. For the fun of it, or to attract a lady friend, wolves will gather in groups and chorus howl, singing simultaneously in 12 different harmonies! 

(yes, that is a picture of a husky...not sure if huskies do chorales together....I'll bet they have undercover neighborhood garage bands though...) 

Mysteriously enough, the moon is pulling at earth. Earth can "hold on" to everything except her water. So, at every full moon, when the sun, moon, and earth are in perfectly alignment, tides are high. (When the moon is at its quarter, there are neap tides, which are rather low and non-eventful.) Why the moon is attracted to earth, I still haven't found out...it just IS. 

Moonlight...wolves...snow...winter...ice...Terrible, powerful forces. 

But they're calming, comforting, and choir-like, orchestrated by a guy who knows exactly what He's doing. 

And that seems like a reason for singing.