Just a Musing...

Lunar Eclipse and Freezing in the Cold...

       Monday night and into Tuesday morning I was shivering under layers of clothing and a thick blanket watching the slowly disappearing full moon. It was wonderful and agonizing slow. I've never seen a lunar eclipse and didn't realize that they stretch over a bit of time. Or at least it seems a bit slow when your toes are going numb and your nose is as bright as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer's. Brrr. 

      But it was worth it. I'm not going to try to wax poetry here, it isn't my strong point in writing, but the moon was beautiful. A wispy winter cloud cover made it difficult to see the copper orb high above us, but binoculars helped us see more of its awesome red color. And slowly as the minutes past, more and more of the moon faded from the sky. 

     The night was still, the city was quiet. And the Earth was blocking the sunlight from hitting the moon and so for a few minutes in time, the sun, Earth and moon were in alignment. Does it mean anything? I don't know. Some cultures and religions put significance on the event. Is it cool? Completely. When else can you be reminded of how small you are in the universe than when you're watching heavenly bodies line up all in a row?      

      We are all part of something much bigger than we can even imagine. 

     As the moon was nearly completely blocked and had turned a lovely copper color, I woke the kids from their warm beds and they hurried into boots, coats, and mittens. They were ready to see a full lunar eclipse on the night of the winter solstice. My youngest looked at it for a few minutes with a huge grin and then went promptly back to the bed. My oldest pondered the mysteries of the universe through the glass of a heavy set of binoculars and then joked about greeting the start of winter because it seemed just as cold yesterday when it was Fall. Around here winter tends to kick Fall out on her arse a little early. Grin. 

      Twinkle, twinkle little star...because we start to ponder the sky above us from birth. 

     On another brief musing...Last week I wrote about miracles. And it's fascinating me, must be the season. But I came across this quote that I would like to share. 

 “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

 Albert Einstein

Merry Christmas to everyone.