"Moon-pours" (the shortest day)

I notice on a given night that in the evening (i.e. post-3p.m.) the moon resides above my outhouse. Its picturesque. My simple latrine, adorned in holiday lights which I have adapted to 'every day lights' for approachability and practical visibility, is dressed up for the night. Surrounded in a blue winter-moon glow. Sometimes worthy of a Christmas card photo. Like a winter gala of sorts. As I wander outside and back in again, the cool night lights remind me of the marvel of gravitational pull.

Because by early morning, the potty has turned into a pumpkin. No longer the belle of the midnight ball, its left to dwell in darkness. The moon instead pours its gentle luminescence on my driveway, a whole different cardinal direction from its nightly position. It almost seems to light my path for the day, encourage my waking, dressing, layering, trudging, living.
Its phases are frequent, swift, and obvious. They sweep through weeks unnoticed, seeming to cycle from full moon to full moon almost overnight. (Depending on how we define "overnights" up here.) But when it approaches stages nearing full, no headlamps are needed for traipsing to pee, and there's no getting away with squatting in the yard to do so. No way. There's just too much light in the sky. On the snow. In the trees. All around. Up here the moon has a personality. It's got definition. Purpose. Style. In a sub-arctic winter moon's got a lot of 'face time' and knows how to work it too.

Especially today. It's the shortest day. At dusk-y 3.6 hours of daylight, sunrise melds into sunset almost seamlessly and before you know its happening, its already gone, changing shifts with Luna who will soon dictate the night. These sunrise/sets last for hours at a time, beginning far before official sun "rise" on the horizon, and lasting well beyond the dropping point. They illuminate the sky on clear days in the most unique sky colors nature can make. They paint the mountain ranges and dust the clouds. And make every day of freezing, dressing, heating, covering, packing, hauling, chilling, warming, 'plugging-in' worthwhile.

We're on the upward curve of the pendulum swing here in big north now. On this day, people are rejuvenated by the prospect of another moon-less summer. Its arrival is just around the corner. Soon December daylight hours will be matched by January ones, November's remembered through February's. Before we know it, daylight hours were far surpass those we are accustomed to. As minutes of light are gained swiftly each day the moon will begin cramming in elegant drags across the horizon from outhouse to driveway pouring light all around, before summer encroaches and forces it to fight for a place in the visible sky with the great sun star.