Moon Chasing

Greetings from Portugal! The intrepid little Valentine team is out adventuring, chasing the moon, megalithic alignments, and a total solar eclipse!

We just finished up a chilly and rainy week on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. We were there in hopes of documenting the southern standstill moon make its low, low arc at the Standing Stones of Calanais. With this major lunar standstill cycle quickly coming to a close, this was our third and final attempt this cycle to witness the Moon gently rise from the Cailleach and float through the gneiss pillars (no doubt we'll be journeying here again in 16 years for the next major lunar standstill).

Each month, the Moon passes into its southernmost position, pauses briefly, then heads back north. This usually gives three nights to see the extreme lunar position. Well, we got rain, then more rain. However, on the third night, we had gloriously clear skies! That's right, it was finally on the third night of our third trip that we got incredible footage of the near southern standstill moon. Hooray for perseverance and luck!

Now we're at the Cromleque dos Almendres in Évora, Portugal. This is another fantastically impressive megalithic monument. The Stones here are rounded granite, while the Stones at Calanais are thin slabs of gneiss. Davd is working away at getting time lapses and drone footage at sunrise, sunset, moonrise, etc. Zen is finally getting over jetlag and not thinking it's playtime at midnight, and Chloe is relishing the Portuguese.

We've had wonderful connections with friends new and old: a huge thank you to Ian and Catherine for their hospitality, to Sira for sharing her beloved landscape with us, and to the Priego-Luques for being the best type of friends one could possibly have!

Now we'll be journeying northward up Portugal to get ourselves in line with the Sun and Moon for a very special occasion on August 12. If the clouds allow, we'll get to see a total solar eclipse!

Happy Lughnasadh! Enjoy the rest of summer.

Love, the Valentines