Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse.
Coastsider, Bob McComb, took the time to write some magical prose of his eclipse experience. Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse.
Written by Bob McComb
“Wearing a knit cap, light down jacket, thick socks and slippers, a dark grey airline blanket wrapped around my waist like a drab Hawaiian Lava-Lava to ward off the damp Pacific night air, I step onto our deck to witness the blue-moon, lunar eclipse. It is 05:20 – 9 minutes before maximum eclipse. The night sky surrounding the moon is clear and the nearby stars shine brightly. The moon is a ruddy red, as the Earth’s shadow slowly moves from the top right toward the bottom left. Below, are the dark waters of Half Moon Bay. The Pillar Point headland is wearing its string of pearls – a neckless of perimeter lights surrounding the rocket tracking station west of the soft lights of Princeton Harbor. A few minutes later I am joined by my lovely lady.
The night air carries a mixture of wood smoke from my neighbor’s fire and the salty, sweet smell of the ocean. My neighbors are bundled up on their deck, also witnessing the magical morning. Once the moon is fully shrouded in the earth’s shadow, I pause to make our morning coffee. The scents of the night air and wood smoke meld nicely with coffee’s aroma. I am surprised to see that the shadow does not transit across the moon’s surface; rather it slowly begins its departure toward the lower right. The flat disk of the moon now begins to develop greater depth. The left edge begins to form a corona of whitish light. The stars are just beginning to surrender to the pre-dawn light.
Steadily the earth’s shadow moves to the right and slightly downward as it separates from the moon. Moon beams begin to sparkle on bay below. Behind us the dawn’s light is growing. The Pillar Point palisades transition from a dark silhouette into three-dimensional forms. The mist above the ocean’s surface is now visible. As the shadow-line moves toward the center of the moon, we can see how much larger in proportion our home planet is. The contrast is as striking as the contrast between lighted and shadowed halves of the moon.
The dawn’s light is growing steadily. The moon begins to dip into the Pacific mist, light misty streaks of moisture add even more depth to the images. The morning mist takes on a light pink tint. Inexorably the shadow departs, the moon continues its course, finally disappearing behind the headlands.”
Thanks Bob! If you have something to say, submit your topic or thoughts to Coastside Buzz. We are here to everyone a voice in their own words.