A Beautiful Sunset and a Full Moon During a Late Afternoon Bike Ride

It was a really cold and breezy yesterday afternoon. But, I was dressed for the occasion with three layers of clothing under my yellow windbreaker. When I was three quarters into my ride around Vasona Reservoir (an artificial lake), the sun was beginning to set and I saw streaks of orange/yellow blend into the clouds above the Santa Cruz Mountains. It reflected beautifully onto the lake. Two women saw me taking photographs and one of them alerting me to the fact that just ahead there was a full moon. Well, the actually full moon occurred today, November 27, at 4:16 a.m. EST. Nevertheless, to the casual stargazer it does appear full before and after its peak. November’s full moon is known as the Beaver Moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, that my late dad used to cite to me when I was a kid.

Postscript: When the moon is full at this times of year, it's just about directly opposite the sun in the sky as it sets. They’re not technically happening at exactly the same time, but from the vantage point of us mortals on Earth, it appears so. What I was really witnessing, was three astronomical events: sunset, moonrise and a full moon, and it was grand