Full Moon on the Rise

Robin states in a comment on a previous entry that there is nothing like looking at the blue New Mexico sky to lift one's spirits.  To which I'd like to add that watching the Full Cold Moon rise over the Sandias is pretty darned close.  The actual December full moon was on the fourth, but last night it was still immense, rising over the mountains, throwing its frosty light across the valley.  It's hard to concentrate on where the dog and I are going, because Ican't look at anything except that miraculous moonscape.  But last night, in the opposite direction, I discovered that the big Catholic church on the corner of Lomas and Tennessee was entirely adorned with luminarias...it's a truly huge church, built in the Mission style, lots of rooflines, porticos, strange little niches, all of which are now gleaming into the darkness with what must surely be electric luminarias.  So,there's much towards which to turn my vision, even after dark.  And today, for the first time since late October, I went for a good long walk all by myself.  I've been nervous and somewhat scared to do this, and our dog is too old, crippled and just plain goofy, to be of much practical value on a walk.  He can't see any better than I can, and he wouldn't scare a rabbit.  We are out of the deep freeze we were in for the past week and a half, so it was still warm in the sunshine, and I started at a small park in a beautiful residential area just below the mountains and walked for half an hour.  May not sound like much, but it's a big first step for me.  My eyes seem better to me, or else I'm just getting used to this level of vision.  I won't really know until next week, but I'm very hopeful.  I'm able to drive short distances, during the daylight also.  We are thinking of a day trip down to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve near Socorro on Saturday, as the sandhill cranes have arrived for their winter sojourn.  Gail and I saw one on Sunday when we were walking at the Rio Grande Nature Center - it flew over the fields and headed towards the river.  Our friends who live not far from the Center in the North Valley say they saw them flying over their house all morning, in astounding numbers, crying as they went.