All of this dazzling beauty paled, however, with the rise of
the full moon directly at our bow, larger and clearer than I
had ever seen it. Quickly it revealed its full form from behind
the edge of the earth, its light tarnished golden yellow by the
thickness of the atmosphere. How close it appeared: as if it
could be reached just over the horizon or knocked across the
heavens with a giant tennis racket. As the moon inched
higher into the night’s sky, the burnt yellow colour imperceptibly
brightened to a sharp silver, and the silver light
played on the sea water, turning it into a vast field of
sparkling diamonds.
from Walking on Water: Four Days Over the
Horizon on a Jangada by Patrick Hefferman
