The Dark Side of the Moon

I don’t know what you were doing at 3 this morning, but I was among insomniacs admiring the total lunar eclipse. I watched the midnight moon’s radiance loosen, then gradually turn golden before the finale: a Mars-like reddish orb that made its way from one end of my backyard to the other. At one point, I thought of running up to the 24-hour CVS for camera film and sifting through the garage for my magnifying lens. The scene was just so perfect with the calm air, clean skies, shooting star and glorious globe framed between palm fronds. Oh, this would have blown all past and future Wordless Wednesdays out of the water, trust me.

But sometimes you just need to live in the moment, especially if it otherwise requires wearing a bra. So I sat there in my still yard, marveling at the universe and wondering if motorists on the nearby freeway were aware of what was unfolding. I listened to an owl hoot and was lulled by the assuring cadence of the next-door German Sheppard's snores. And then, around 4, the moon all but disappeared. The glow was gone, and I heard someone’s sprinklers turn on. They sounded like rattlesnakes moving through brush. Engulfed in complete darkness, I didn’t move. Instead, I tried to recall all the songs on a Pink Floyd album I’d once bought with my birthday money during middle school. “Money” was the big hit, but my favorite was the final song, “Eclipse.” Like this evening, it’s a wonderful reminder that not everything revolves around us.

[Photo courtesy of hubble.org]