28 February 2013

Full Moon



There is a full moon in the sky tonight and crazy fuckers are wandering the streets. I rode my bike down to Starbucks and had a coffee. A double shot vanilla latte. Short and sweet. I needed a caffeine jolt. I drank my coffee at an outside table and watched the world go by and I listened to music on my iPod. I had The Cat Empire blasting in my ears. They are my favorite Australian band. The Cat Empire are a blues and brass combination. They have South American influences - Cuban I think. Their music is sweet.

It can get any party started.

There are a lot of tourists wandering around this evening. Many of them are clutching maps and most are sweating prolifically. It has been a very hot day today and it is a steamy evening.

On the ride back home my way was blocked by a large and staggering European guy. He was reeling - all across the footpath. Americans call these sidewalks. I am not sure what the Singaporeans refer to them as. I have never asked but I don't really care either. They are footpaths to me.

I suspect that this European was Germanic. He was wearing a silly German looking hat. I think he was drunk but perhaps he was just mad. I rang the bell on my bike to warn him of my approach but instead of moving to one side he turned around and faced me and he held his arms out wide. He was intentionally blocking my way. He said something to me with a snarl on his face but I couldn't hear him as The Cat Empire was playing through my headphones. The song that I was listening to at the time was 'Sly".

I was playing it loud.

I had to pull up my bike and I came to a stop. I did not dismount but I was facing off the big boy. I had one foot on a pedal and one on the ground. My position was stable. I pulled the headphones from my ears and I asked him what was up. He growled something unintelligible that was definitely not in English. It might have been German but it could easily have been Slavic or Scandinavian. I am not good with foreign languages.

It was a bit of a stand-off situation. He looked quite aggressive and agitated.

I was a little alarmed.

Fortunately I had my umbrella with me. I carry it on a sling over my back pretty much everywhere I go in this town. It can rain suddenly and heavily and I don't like getting wet. Unless I swim of course or if I take a shower. When the German dude took a step toward me I unslung my umbrella and gave him a whack across his head. I don't think I hurt him but it caught him off guard and I was able to zip past him on my bike. I hurtled away to the safety of my home.

I didn't look back.

I think the full moon affects the sanity of some people. The moon exerts a powerful force.

It pulls tides.

The word lunatic is derived from the Latin 'luna' which means the moon. In ancient times it referred to people who supposedly went mad with different phases of the moon. They were at their maddest when the moon was full. Being considered a lunatic was generally associated with an old English belief that if the moon shone on you while you were asleep it could send you insane - you could become a lunatic. 

Supposedly the main reason that the thatched roofs on those old quaint English cottages hang so far down over the windows is that they were constructed that way to prevent the moon from shining on people while they were asleep. It was to stop them from becoming lunatics.

I really do learn something new every day and sometimes in the strangest of ways. 

No comments :

Post a Comment