Full moon on a Last Thursday

Man, this is some crazy shit down here in my neighborhood sometimes. But it doesn't get any crazier than the Last Thursday of the month, when there's a bunch of gallery openings and the fire dancers and clowns come out to play.

Last month featured a "dance riot," in which a bunch of street dancers who'd been blocking traffic with their go-with-the-flow trance action, got into an altercation with police responding to a fist fight at a bar nearby. There was hooligan energy in the air that night, but nothing serious came of it. Just a bunch of neighborhood gossip and a report on the nightly news.

Tonight was a full moon, however. Also one of the hotest nights we've had all year. Sun setting so much later and all, it was bound to be a bustling night.

I came home from class at 9:15 and the streets were swarming with people, but I was shocked when, at about 10, I ventured out to meet a classmate at a pub down the street, and found the sidewalks still jammed.

EVERYONE was out. Suburban housewifes and pot-bellied tourists with cameras mingled with granola artists hawking home-made soaps and anarchist clowns selling vegan, gluten-free dog treats. The fire dancers found a fantastic new venue, where they can practice their art without blocking traffic, and the local artisans have finally started lighting their booths with lanterns to continue selling later into the evening.

The result was a vibrant, urban atmosphere that rekindled memories of San Francisco or New Orleans. Average folk mixing in with a stew of queers, clowns, avant-garde artists, crafties and people selling their illustrated children's books or handmade silk purses.

I walked through this roiling mess to meet a classmate who had left my practicum and gone to the hood to meet up with friends of hers. But the journey was worth it. It was a funny conversation, and I got to talk about Panama with some guy who was dying to know about it. I love Panama.

Anyway, I hung out with them for a while, came home and prepared tomorrow's breakfast -- that mouth-watering french toast casserole, which has to soak overnight. Afterward, I walked the dog briefly. That is when I caught the moon, for the second time tonight, in its luscious and luminous fullness. (First time was on my bike ride home from class, when it was so huge and low and pasted like parchment paper on the sky that I wanted to call S2 and tell her to look at it.)

Seeing that full moon, especially the second showing, when its bright full face illuminated the street where I walked my dog, I felt like I understood, momentarily, the reason for the energy on the street tonight. It was thick and fast, but it was good. People were enjoying themselves, and there wasn't any thug energy n the air.

For whatever reason, I'm feeling inclined to see the full moon tonight as an omen. It heralds a Summer of Love.