Walking with Whit before a lunar eclipse

Walking with Whit this evening, which is chilly and bright, I looked up to the east to examine the moon, a natural habit in crystalline country air. The dog knew no such concern; the moon was where it was supposed to be, and behaving itself as one would expect. I was bemused by my first thought - It doesn't even know what is going to happen to it. 

I'm glad I did not con-fide this consideration to Whit. He needs to be able to believe that he can enjoy his evening constitutional without distraction, much less having to nanny his companion through some impertinent twinge. But then, unfailingly, his taciturnity brought me up short, and was clarify-ing.


Our holiday now follows this protocol. For a time, you won't see us; but it will not be so for us.






Thomas Gainesborough
Wooded Landscape with Herdsman ..
  Rustic Lovers, and Ruined Castle
Pencil on paper, ca 1780
The Huntington Library
San Marino