July 20 is Moon Day. This year, it also happens to be Monday.
Maybe you have a case of the Mondays. Around here, we like to think of it as the awesome start to a new week with lots and lots of opportunity to be had. But you can always think of it as a case of the Moondays, because doesn’t that sound so much better? It works because “Monday” comes from an Old English word that means “Day of the Moon.”
But that’s not why this Monday is Moon Day. July 20 is Moon Day because of the tremendous achievement that happened on July 20, 1969, when men who launched from right here on the Space Coast actually walked on that timeless orb of dreams and mystery. Neil Armstrong made his “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” at 10:56 p.m. EDT.
Then Armstrong got right back into explorer mode, describing what no human had ever felt under his feet: “The surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles.”
Maybe this is a good day for you to explore something new. Careful about your definition of how to celebrate today… if you go mooning about, you’re moping. If you go mooning, you might get arrested, and we will adamantly deny we encouraged anything of the sort.
Instead, venture forth. And look up. Tonight, a sliver of moon sets just after 11 p.m., taking a little bit of us with it.
