Full moon over Oregon, by Sue Keith
Happy full moon, all you lunatics, and I hope you had a chance to howl. It's nice to think, like the song says, that people we love are gazing at that same beautiful moon somewhere.
While I wasn't howling last night, I was definitely vocalizing. My Spanish/singing teacher Lolita is the choir director at the San Fernando church, and the choir is preparing for the Fiesta de Guadalupe (Dec. 11-12) and Christmas. For a few weeks I'd been planning to get to rehearsals but the domestic tsunami at my house left me somewhat flattened and socially unreliable for a while. But sometimes I just have to make yourself do something, in spite of all the lame excuses, and then I find I'm very glad I did. As soon as I got near Lolita's house and heard them all singing, my heart felt lighter. It was the same crowd from last year, and they stopped the song to welcome me warmly with hugs and handshakes all around.
During Hurricane Jimena the dome collapsed in the San Fernando Church, and since it's a historical landmark and belongs to the Mexican government, repairs and restoration will have to wait until squads of engineers and experts descend and prepare their reports. It may not be restored in my lifetime.
But there's a lovely plaza in front of the church, and we'll hold mass under the street lights, all bundled up in our rebozos. Kinda romantic, don't you think?