When The Moon Connects People

This is more than a children’s book on getting to know our moon. This book is phantasmagorical, because it made connections during this crazy Covid-19 unprecedented time.

Here’s the story…

I discovered this book during a recent shopping stop at Costco. It is a delightful children’s book that has some cool facts about our moon. Cool enough snippets that when I get to take kids or even adults out hiking again for a night hike I can pull those facts out of the air like I have studied astronomy instead of wildlife biology and environmental toxicology. Like for instance… Did you know that a 600 pound cow would only weigh 100 pounds on the moon? The moon is still waiting for its first female astronaut since its had twelve men astronauts walk on its surface.

Here’s the paramount meaning behind this book. First, there was the Costco checker who commented and asked me questions about this book and if it would be good to read to the girls he coaches. Emphatically, I said yes! Second, here is the profound takeaway – it was the elderly gentleman who had pushed his cart up against mine as we were checking out. He was fully masked but the whole six-foot/two-meter social distancing was out the window with him. His eyes lit up when he started talking about the moon and education as he overheard our conversation. I could tell behind his mask he was smiling because his words reflected happiness. He was less than a foot away from me as I talked to him.

I could have been an a** and yelled at him to back away. The Costco employees checking me out could have spoken to him and asked him to back up to the six-foot circle. BUT… we didn’t. We were all so caught up talking about the moon and this gem of a children’s book that everything else was forgotten for a few minutes. We enjoyed this meaningful moment of joy and unity by us all interacting with each other – all over the moon!

Maybe in these unprecedented times we all need more moon talk, plant talk, nature talk, dog talk, and animal talk. Unquestionably, we need more meaningful connections!