Bloody Brilliant

Anticipation levels must have been high, for I was awake just after 3am having dreamt I woke up late and almost missed the lunar eclipse. I was running around panicking (in the dream that is), trying to capture that magic image, and as I fiddled and faddled around with my camera, I barely managed a shot before the moon fell below the horizon. The whole village was abuzz with people everywhere trying to find the best vantage point for both viewing and taking photos, never had the place witnessed so much noise and activity at such an early hour.

Needless to say, despite curling up in a lovely warm bed, sleep was not on the cards after that. I watched the time tick away as I rolled from one side to the other, finally giving up and getting showered and dressed by 5am. The early rise was well worth it, for even though the moon was small, to see its brightness gradually carved away as the earth cast its shadow, and then be transformed into a dark red blood moon, was quite fascinating. And just for good measure, Mars got in the act too, being at its closest proximity to the earth for fifteen years.

 My dream did not come to fruition. In reality, the village was not abuzz with people running this way and that making a heck of a racket. In fact, I didn’t hear a sound. I did notice some lights go on though, so I don’t think I was the only one up and about to experience the moment. I got up in plenty of time to take my photos, but 5am in Tasmania in the middle of winter is not the ideal time to be outside, and operating an unfamiliar camera with gloves on wasn’t exactly that simple either.

With freezing hands and no tripod, my feeble attempts at capturing the longest blood moon eclipse we’re going to have this century, were rather paltry to say the least, though even the blurry ones do have their own kind of beauty. Images galore are on the internet, all in beautiful stark clarity, displaying the event at its best.

When the moon rose last night, a day short of full moon and as bright as it gets, it was almost all you could see in the night sky. Going outside this morning as the eclipse unfolded was a whole different scenario. The night sky was alive with stars, piercingly bright against their black backdrop. It was worth being up just to see that.

The structure and cycles and rhythms of the solar system can all be measured and quantified, those we know of that is, for as we keep discovering, there is still so much more to discover than we ever thought possible. I love that there is still a sense of awe and mystery when it comes to the sheer magnitude of the universe, while at the same time those who have made it their life purpose to determine its origins delve deeper into space to look for answers.

For me, I’m grateful for what I believe is God’s incredible creation. I’m simply thankful that even though I’m only one little speck on one little planet, I not only have the privilege of marvelling at the vastness of it all, I also have a definite role and responsibility for keeping our part of the universe alive and well.

Blood red moon

hovering, eclipsed

by the Earth