Jeanine and I drove to Ocean City, NJ, today, where we will be staying with her best friend, Kris, and her family. We timed our travel to avoid rush hour traffic in the greater NYC area and made the journey in 6 hours including two brief stops for recharging the car. After several days of rain in Concord, we enjoyed the clear skies, warm sun, and ocean breezes that greeted us.

After dinner, we strolled down to the boardwalk to enjoy the Strawberry Moon. Initially, I feared that clouds on the horizon would ruin the opportunity, but eagle-eyed Jeanine spotted it as it emerged from cover. This Strawberry Moon was especially significant because it coincided with a major lunar standstill or “lunistice,” a rare event that occurs roughly every 18.6 years. This made the full moon appear unusually low on the horizon, the lowest it has been since 2006 and won’t be again until 2043. When the moon is low, it often appears more reddish or orange due to atmospheric scattering and this year smoke from the Canadian wildfires only added to the color.