A red full moon rises over Eugene this evening, autumn setting in behind a clear, deep blue night sky. I’d been in the hardware store when the last of the sunset faded, and didn’t realize how long I’d been hunting up a few items for some projects, till I glanced up at the large windows and saw only darkness there.

I just grinned, thinking more of how it was going to be a little interesting securing an 8-foot-long apple picker to the sidecar. (Easy, by the way – just run it, or whatever long-handled item you’re hauling home, through a bar of the luggage rack and down into the tub, and then secure the picker to the luggage rack with something, such as a bungee cord. If you’ve got your tonneau cover on, fasten that over the handle too.)

Outside, the full moon was just getting into the sky. I was struck by the deep, dusty redness of its surface, the stark contrast of the red against the deep blue of the coming night. I put everything away in Svetlana, then swung up onto the back of the Ural. The moon was still low enough to where I could see a power line cut across the bottom of the moon. I focused my gaze on that, and marveled at how quickly the moon rose and within seconds was free of the power line, the view of the glorious red, round surface unbroken again.

It was only then that I started Sveta. She growled and grumbled into life immediately – no messing with the moonlight here. On the road, I changed my route from the more direct yet tree-lined way home, to one that would take me on roads where the moon would always be either to my left or right in front of me.

The only way the ride would’ve been better, is if I’d brought a camera. Figures. Don’t get me started on the overpass I climbed, riding east, the moon just above the surrounding streetlights. It would’ve made an amazing photo.

Back home, the moon was ever higher in the sky, just above the trees of our neighborhood. Since getting home I’d gotten in a few good rides on Sveta, but this was the best. The warm, clear night, one of the last of the summer, and a red moon that I would never forget.

It was a shame to putt-putt into the garage, and to know that soon the moon would eventually set.

But the memory never would.