ITV Central's Steve Clamp and the 'Buck Moon': the view from Worcestershire

By Steve Clamp, Presenter, ITV News Central

It says something that in a world where you can see 3D holographic versions of ABBA protected on stage, dinosaurs brought to life on the big screen and filters that can make us all look like Tom Cruise, the most impressive sight I've seen this year was a purely natural phenomenon.

My first site of the 'Buck Moon', hovering as though supported by some unseen power over the M5 in Worcestershire, made me feel energized and yet somehow completely at ease.

And to think it's the same magical experience that our grandparents, and their grandparents, and even those dinosaurs now reconstructed in cinemas, could have witnessed that makes it all the more powerful.

And sometimes it's moments like this that bring serenity to our lives. We all have stress to deal with, be it home life or at work.

In the world of news the stress tends to come hand in hand with the very reason we do the job - it's just sometimes it all seems to come at once.

In the last fortnight alone the Prime Minister resigned, a series of rail strikes were called - one of which could put the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in disarray.

Elsewhere we found out that on one morning this week just one ambulance had been available to the whole of the West Midlands (a story I am still trying to fully comprehend).

And that's before we get onto the scary outlook faced by thousands of Midlands businesses, including one we spoke to in Derbyshire whose very existence is being thrown into doubt by soaring energy prices.  

All the above can leave your mind in a bit of a spin to say the least ... So to be able to stop and just take in such an awe inspiring sight as the Supermoon rising in the night sky, was a reminder that through all the challenges being faced by so many people in the world right now, there are at least some things that are a reliable constant. 

Of course, you will realise that even in this moment of stunningly raw nature, my digital world wasn't quite left behind, I couldn't have captured the images without my camera (I'm no Van Gogh when it comes to reproducing the night sky with a paint brush).

But at least the camera was merely a tool and not the sole focus of my attention.

All the talk of this 'Buck Moon' (apparently called a Buck Moon because it's the time of year when male deer shed their antlers) did lead me to humming the tune of that great Creedence ClearWater Revival track 'Bad Moon Rising', a song which is full of ominous warnings of impending doom.

And yet my feelings as I stood in wonderment couldn't have been further from those dark lyrics.

Instead I was left with hope that while the 'here and now' is clearly very tough for so many people, at least certain things will always be there, reassuring us that there is still some true beauty and magic in our time, we just need to put our screens down, look up and hope for a clear sky.