Paging idly through an art book last winter, I stopped abruptly at a painting called "Summer Night on the Beach," thinking, "that could be Interlochen!"
Or not. The artist was Norwegian painter Edvard Munch.
The caption, while somewhat conflicted about the symbolism of the moonlit column reflected on the water, noted that Munch frequently remained on the beach until nearly 11:00 p.m. to capture these summer-night scenes. That made sense — even here, the sky rarely grows dark enough to provide much contrast with the moon until quite late. And Oslo lies about 1000 miles closer to the North Pole.
Of course, after the solstice, the light does begin to fade a little earlier each evening as we move through July and August.
In the whole scheme of things, the moon, the sparkling column of light stretching across the lake, and the shimmering water itself are all matters of reflection. The moon shines by reflecting sunlight. Then every tiny wave and ripple acts like a tilted mirror, sending bits of that light in different directions.
Together, those countless reflections create the shimmering pathway of moonlight we see across the water.
And that is essentially how Munch created the shimmer in his painting. Through sweeping brushstrokes and shifting texture in the paint, light reflects differently from the canvas itself, helping create an ethereal impression of moonlight dancing on water.
Moonrise tonight and twilight will be close to 11:00 p.m., and it will take a while for the moon to clear the stately pines along the shore.
But as summer progresses, the magic of a shimmering pathway of moonlight across the lake will arrive a little earlier each evening, providing memories "to brighten the cheerless spots of a long winter."
