Furious Seasons

August 28, 2007

We Are Small

Very small. As I noted earlier, I stayed up much of the night to watch the lunar eclipse. The skies were clear and the view was stunning, but, since it was after 3 a.m., I was one of a few people watching. The view from my apartment was blocked by trees, so I took a beer and went down to the street where I stood and gaped at the show for a good 45 minutes. A couple of my neighbors were outside as well, one attempting to capture the moment with a digital camera. (Note to neighbor: turn your flash off. Use a very slow shutter speed.)

To me, the most fascinating bit is how the moon looks like a big pearly orb when it is in total eclipse. Freaky. No wonder ancient civilizations used to quiver and shake and pray to whatever god was handy when such celestial phenomena took place.

No pics from me. I don't own a camera.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at August 28, 2007 10:44 AM

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Comments

Just wanted to applaud you for staying up and not only observing this natural phenomenon but actually getting excited about it. It's important to get in touch with the universe (and nature) from time to time and think about where we really are in the scheme of things and remember our ancient ancestors too. Kind of a little spiritual awakening and exercise. We all need those from time to time.

Posted by: Sara at August 28, 2007 11:31 AM

Sometimes sights like that are meant to be remembered, to lend ability to describe the view and thoughts behind the viewing; cameras sometimes stop people from capturing the beauty that they witness, leaving but a small image that speaks less than 1000 words.

It is said that some people are spun up during a celestial wonder like an eclipse, and that a rare few are able to witness it and reflect and experience a spirtual awakening of sort.

Posted by: Stephany at August 28, 2007 04:11 PM

I've been meaning to reply here and remark that I think we are small,as in small world and looking at things such as the moon connects us all in a large way. I'm weird like that, but I always like knowing other people are looking at something I am-- that can be seen from everywhere. For those who didn't catch a glimpse here's a look at the "pearly orb".

Posted by: Stephany at August 30, 2007 04:57 PM