The moon

Last updated: 16 February 2006

The moon is not entered in the book. The porch does not take it. Walkers who stay for the evening, or who come on a hard frost, sometimes ask after it, and it is a fair question. This is a dark parish once the desk is shut. The rides hold what light they are given. A clear night after rain is a different country from the afternoon of the same day, and the green takes the moon when the moon is up.

The green, looking toward the church. Photograph from the centre collection; the month is not marked.

We do not advertise a night walk. The Green Man Trail is a daylight path. The eastern loop is not a thing to begin after three in winter. Markers are not lit. The churchyard gravel is not lit. If you are still on the green when the centre has closed, the outer board will still be there, and the moon will be or it will not.

Harvest is the large moon of the year, as it is elsewhere. It rises early and it is a help on the road from Bellingham if you are late. In snow the rides keep a light of their own, which is the snow, and the moon only adds. Cloud is ordinary. The phase is not a parish observation; it is the sky’s.

Kielder Water takes a great deal of sky, and the moon on that water is a thing people mention. It is administered separately. Ours is the forest and the green. A flask is still a kindness. See in winter, and on the trail.