What does it mean to be retired? Well, it means you can go to bed at 8:30 p.m., set your alarm for 2:30 a.m., spend 90 minutes watching the lunar eclipse, then go back to bed and sleep until you wake up. That’s what it means to be retired. And that’s what we did.
As you know, the night sky is more vivid in the country away from the city lights. The family that homesteaded here watched the sky avidly. Even in Orofino, my dad kept up on the night sky and would go out to watch the stars. I know the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, but my dad could locate many more sky figures.
Anyway, due to what seemed conflicting information, we didn’t get up until 2:30 but were in time to see the sliver of light at the bottom of the moon disappear. Then we watched the eclipse for an hour, finally giving it up at 4:15. We started out on the front porch, watching to the south. But it’s getting colder now and as we became chilled we realized we could watch from the livingroom. Why not go upstairs? So, we went to “Hallie’s room” and watched from there a long time until the moon had moved so far west that we could no longer see it comfortably.
It was wonderful to be able to see it, but it happened so slowly that watching was tedious, although you could always take a break from the moon and look at other parts of the sparkling sky. KW
As you know, the night sky is more vivid in the country away from the city lights. The family that homesteaded here watched the sky avidly. Even in Orofino, my dad kept up on the night sky and would go out to watch the stars. I know the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, but my dad could locate many more sky figures.
Anyway, due to what seemed conflicting information, we didn’t get up until 2:30 but were in time to see the sliver of light at the bottom of the moon disappear. Then we watched the eclipse for an hour, finally giving it up at 4:15. We started out on the front porch, watching to the south. But it’s getting colder now and as we became chilled we realized we could watch from the livingroom. Why not go upstairs? So, we went to “Hallie’s room” and watched from there a long time until the moon had moved so far west that we could no longer see it comfortably.
It was wonderful to be able to see it, but it happened so slowly that watching was tedious, although you could always take a break from the moon and look at other parts of the sparkling sky. KW
So you slept in, eh? Did you get up at the late hour of 6:30am? I'm not fooled! I was asleep like a baby. Figured I'd watch it in fast forward on the news! :)
ReplyDeleteLast one I saw was a partial and it was more than a decade ago. Moon just turned blood red, pretty cool actually. I've got your Dad's star globe here at the house, I'm going to bring it with me next time at the farm and leave it so residents and visitors can use it.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that there was going to be an eclipse. Its funny that I was actually awake when it was happening(trouble sleeping), the sky was clear and bright, and I missed it.
ReplyDeleteMike and I noted that with the brightness of the moon obscured, the stars appeared brighter. That globe belonged to my grandfather Portfors, I believe. It would be great to have it here if you want to share it. We did sleep in until about 8:00 because we had trouble getting back to sleep. Mike especially was chilled. I had to put another blanket on the bed yesterday. Love, Mom
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