The Moon Paragraph

“’We must strive to be like the moon.’  An old man in Kubati repeated this sentence often to people who walked past his house on their way to the river to fetch water, to hunt, to tap palm wine; and to their farms.  I remember asking my grandmother what the old man meant.  She explained that the adage served to remind people to always be on their best behavior and to be good to others.  She said that people complain when there is too much sun and it gets unbearably hot, and also when it rains too much or when it is cold.  But, she said, no one grumbles when the moon shines.  Everyone becomes happy and appreciates the moon in their own special way.  Children watch their shadows and play in its light, people gather at the square to tell stories and dance through the night.  A lot of happy things happen when the moon shines.  These are some of the reasons why we should want to be like the moon.”  P. 16 

I chose this passage because it is a good, well written paragraph. The grandmother answers her grandson's question with a lot of detail.  She describes why the moon is a good thing in peoples' lives.  It made me smile because her explanation was true.  No one ever complains about the moon.  I had never thought of that before.  I have never complained about the moon or heard anyone else complain about it.  I have only heard people exclaim at how cool the moon looks when it is full, or how bright the night is when it is full. 

The other reason I liked this passage is that it reminds me of my late Grandmother.  She grew up on a farm in western Minnesota.  She told me interesting things about the moon that she learned while living on the farm.  When the moon is shaped like a crescent and it is tipped, she would say that it looks like the moon could hold water. When it was like that she said it meant it was going to rain.  I have to admit that I have not seen it rain many times after the moon looks like it could hold water.  But, it does remind me of my Grandmother, and I think of her every time I see a crescent moon.  Just like Ishmael Beah, I carry this memory with me from childhood, a memory of a grandmother and the moon.