My favourite routine each evening was to have dinner on the front patio looking out to sea, watching the sun’s orange glow slowly  dip and disappear.   For a short while, as the sun descended, the horizon displayed fantastic shades of purple,  which sadly faded as the light gave way.   The orange moon ascended and turned white.  This year the municipality turned off half the island’s street lights to save money, so the moonlight  featured even more above our darkened view of the town below.  Every night the lunar show was repeated but every night it was a little different.

As the days passed and our evening moon became fuller and fuller, media chat started about the forthcoming blue moon, which was just an expression to us before.  We learnt,  like the rest of the planet,  that its the rare second full moon in one month, and we decided to spend it on the beach.

I loved how brightly the blue moon burned and lit up the rocks on the beach.  We barely needed the lamp.