There was a full moon last night.  There was also a lunar eclipse, but I didn’t see that (I think it was around 3:00 EST, when I was in bed).  I did have a bit of a look at the moon at midnight.  It was quite high in the sky.  It makes sense that it would be so high.  The full moon is opposite the sun in the ecliptic; being so close to the winter solstice, the sun would be quite low in the sky, so the moon would have to be higher.

Will I (or will you, if you happened to see the moon around midnight) ever see the full moon this high in the sky again?  The full moon doesn’t always occur this close to the winter solstice, so if you see the full moon next December, for example, it will be a tiny bit lower in the sky than it was this year.  Probably in 19 years or so there may be a full moon so close to the solstice… but will it be cloudy on that day from my observational point?  Will I forget to have a look at it?

It makes me think.  How many things do I pass by, not really noticing them, not thinking about whether I’m going to see them again or not?