Dirty Moon

In spite of the glacial -21 C (or -6 F) temperature outside, I just came back from a long walk with my girl Maya where I observed the first half of the total lunar eclipse event. I’ve never really taken the time to observe eclipses like this where the Moon travels completely into the Earth’s umbra or shadow (love Wikipedia!) like I did tonight and in doing so, several thoughts crossed my mind.

Standing and watching this event occur was like watching paint dry, but with way more educational value :)

The sky was so clear tonight, I took the time to also watch the rest of the night sky. I could easily see the main constellations, but I also observed Orion. He is visible in the Northern Hemisphere from November to early May, so in essence when you see Orion in the sky, winter is just around the corner. I always keep an eye on him every year. Once he starts to lower in the sky, that is when I know spring is truly near, so none of this Groundhog-shadow rubbish for me. As I stood there patiently and freezing, I stared at Orion with such contempt because I’ve had enough of winter. Actually, I’ve had enough of this winter. To date, Montreal has been hit with over 9 feet of snow and it’s not over yet… So I think it’s high time Orion packed up his belt, sword and lion pelts and headed South. The funny thing is, I’m normally the last person to ever complain about the winters here because my rationale is that I choose to live here. I figure the day I just can’t deal with another winter or another heatwave, I’ll move someplace else… But tonight… The cold chill crawling up my back and the numbness I felt in my fingers really got to me.

In spite of the cold, I was however still able to stand in awe at what was happening and what it really meant in the grand scheme of things… The Moon’s speed through Earth’s shadow was about one kilometer per second (2,300 mph). That’s crazy fast! The clichés abounded in my mind too. You know, the whole “how small and insignificant we all are” and the likes but then after a while, my mind shifted to the fact that we may be small and insignificant in the Universe, but we are big enough to kill a planet. There are only 8 planets in our Solar System and we are destroying one and it happens to be the one we live on… and then just like that, my next thought was that the shadow that the Earth was casting, suddenly made the Moon look dirty in my eyes… and that thought was enough to thoroughly deflate me… I looked down at Maya who at this point was doing the “three-paw-dance” (i.e.: alternating lifting paws from the ground because she was cold) and I knew it was time to head home.

Did you watch the eclipse? I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment here or write me at melissacthibodeau [at] gmail [dot] com!