23.1.19

Blurred Moon


I just caught the end of Monday night's lunar eclipse through a window, when I reluctantly winkled myself out of a warm bed at 4.30am for a nocturnal visit to the bathroom. And despite my initial intention to return to the cosy sanctuary of quilts and pillows, I found myself layering up and creeping downstairs (not very successfully, as the steep wooden stairs creak like old bones) to see it properly. 

Outside it was dark and freezing, yet there the Moon hung like a glowing lantern, a spectacularly stained bauble of warm orange pinks and darker purple blues. Overhead, the stars were bright and clear, and even with my rather muddled knowledge of constellations, I could pick out a few familiar patterns. As I gazed, an owl called from the far field and up at the second farm across, I heard the slow, sleepy yawn of a worker getting ready for the day, soon followed by the low hum of the milking machine. From far away, a rooster crowed and the first brave twitterings of the dawn chorus began bubbling up into the icy morning. 

Overwhelmed with a sense of wonder, I silently drank in this rare and beautiful convergence and while not particularly superstitious, I sent up a silent prayer that this would be the starting point of a new and kinder cycle of our lives. By which point (and having failed to take a halfway decent photo), my feet were getting cold and it was time to make a hot chocolate before returning to the soft, dark cocoon of the bed, where Joe lay fast asleep after a long work shift.   

7 comments:

Jane said...

Typically whenever something like this happens it's always cloudy. I hate having to get out of bed for a tinkle at night, brrrr. Best, Jane

Lin said...

Thank you for capturing the scene so eloquently for those of us who slept through it. :)

BumbleVee said...


I totally missed it..it was cloudy earlier in the night and later I think I was watching tv....

yeh... here's to better times....I broke my wrist on Friday and am feeling pretty sorry for myself......this is gonna be a long haul.......

I hope you and dear Joe have a wonderful year Gretel.

hugs V

Karren said...

When I went to art school, one of the first lectures started with "being an artist is more about how we see the world, than about what we do." Most descriptions of this moon described it as orange. You said, "warm orange pinks and darker purple blues." You are so right, and my old teacher was absolutely right too.
It was stormy and overcast where we live and we missed the whole thing. Thank you for sharing the experience with us.

Twiglet said...

Lovely photo and even lovelier description - what a talent you have! x Jo

Alan B said...

Beautiful explanation on the radio —— the moon is covered by the earth's shadow so the only light reaching it is that which gets around the edge of the world. The moon is seeing every sunset and sunrise on earth all at the same time!

Claire said...

Oh Gretel, it was wo worth the effort. I love looking at the stars when I have to make a trip to the bathroom during the night. Love your description of your predawn adventure and I can imagine how nice it was to crawl back into bed and snuggle under the covers...xx