Moonday

It is forty years since Neil Armstrong made his small step and Man first landed on the moon. What a coincidence, then, that today in Monday… the day of the moon. The word is derived from the Old English mōndæg. And it is not only in English that it is moonday… the French have lundi, the Italians, lunedì, and both come from an ancient concept encapsulated by the Romans with the Latin dies lunae.

This is also the last day of the old moon — the new moon is tomorrow, on 21st July. After the moon landing forty years ago, I naively imagined that the giant leap for mankind would herald in a new era of cooperative venture. I suppose that it did after a while because the International Space Station is just that, but I have been rather disappointed with the rest. The world continues to spin and Man continues to squabble and fight. There has been no dawning of the Age of Aquarius… and now I don't believe there ever will be. Not until we manage to wipe ourselves out.