moon viewing

While in NYC a few weekends ago, I visited the Museum of Arts and Design, of which only a few levels were open.  One of the standard exhibits held a piece by Clifton Monteith, called "Moon Viewing Chair."

I was immediately transported upon reading the title.  It sounds so romantic and wondrous, to have a chair exclusively made for looking at the moon. A few Saturdays ago, I spent some time on our back deck wrapped in a blanket doing just that, and I can't help but think it would have been even more beautiful with a special chair built just for the purpose. 

Here's what the chair looks like (it would look so much prettier on a black background, but what can you do):  

The front is cool enough-- pretty bent reeds, looks a bit like a rocking chair-- but it's the back that really gets me!  In person especially, it looks like a boat!  It just makes me imagine gliding through the stars in the hull of a small, perfect boat, quietly dipping oars into the atmosphere, while breathlessly beholding the beauty of a story-high shimmering disc of silver. And I'm being serious.

I looked up more info about the piece and found that Moon Viewing is actually a Japanese ritual (passed to them by the Chinese) for admiring the beauty of the harvest moon. People gathered and had picnics and told children the story of "the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface."  Ancient legend that may be, but it's also the stuff of my most beloved childhood fantasies (just pair Swan Lake with any given cartoon about princess fairies and you're there).   

Anyway, I guess I'll have to stick with deck chairs for the time being, but don't you think I won't be hosting my own moon viewings when it's out there shining bright.