Total Eclipse

Some of us have nothing else to do in the early morning hours. That being my case, I set my alarm for 4:45 am to watch the earth’s shadow swallow the full moon. It was a bright moon illuminating the back yard with so much light I thought deer had tripped the floodlight. Not since I sailed the Cosmic Muffin, have I watched the moon for so long. A water backdrop would have made the eclipse a sight.

It hung low in the western sky and daybreak was only forty five minutes away. Peeking out from behind the trees, the moon soon would dip behind Hagadorn’s Mountain. Stars speckled the night’s canopy, Orion relaxed on the treetops to the east and wisps of clouds stretched across the north resembling an aurora borealis.

I drove down to Ballard School, where there would be an unobstructed view of the moon. Years ago the fields surrounding the school would have been perfect, but today Ace Hardware's distribution center and the State Police office take away from the ambiance. Still the show was incredible.

A thin cloud obscured the moon just before total, adding to the drama as the moon’s final smile of light seductively danced behind the veil. As the eastern sky brightened and the stars yielded their position to the sun, the moon disappeared behind the earth’s shadow. The process was slow. It is hard to imagine earth is traveling at 18.55 miles per second through space. Then the moon was gone, swallowed by the red dragons, blotted out by the spirit of the dead and stolen by demons of the night. No spell was cast. Birds did not fall from the sky. Dogs did not howl. Cows’ milk didn’t turn sour.

Instead, a state trooper left the barracks for his shift, a tow truck operator loaded a pallet of hammers into a tractor trailer and cars whizzed down Ballard Road-destination: Something Else To Do.

I was fortunate to see the rare event, (although this is the second one this year) but I only got to see the first half. The moon vanished. I waited to see if I might glimpse the reemerging light from the top of the orb, but the sun, a cloud and the mountain claimed the sight.

Now it is time to get at resealing the driveway. And you thought I was going back to bed!