“Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars
In other words: hold my hand
In other words: baby, kiss me …
… In other words: please be true
In other words: I love you”
~ “Fly Me to the Moon”
~ song written by Bart Howard & made famous by the wonderful Frank Sinatra
~originally titled “In Other Words,” the song was written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra’s 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions to the Moon.
Frank Sinatra sang “Fly Me to the Moon,” but in the beautiful surreal of my imagination, those in this vehicle can say, “drive me to the moon” as they come upon a full Snow Moon gently dipping into the Little Lehigh Creek as a winter sunset looms in late February.
I created this image by blending my painterly, HDR shot of a vehicle motoring along the road at Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pennsylvania with my capture of the full Snow Moon over the West End of Allentown on February 24, 2024.
February’s full moon was called Snow Moon by many Native American cultures due to the typically heavy snowfall that occurs during this time of year. According to the National Weather Service, February is the United States’ snowiest month.
The Snow Moon was 2024’s only micro full moon. Micro moons appear about 10 percent smaller than a normal full moon and are about 14 percent smaller than the other extreme in appearance – a supermoon. Micro full moons occur when the moon is at its farthest point away from Earth in the orbit called apogee. Not only did the Snow Moon look smaller, but the added distance reduces how much sunlight can reflect back to Earth. This micro moon looked about 30 percent dimmer than normal.
This was the last full moon of the 2024 winter season.
