Beginning at 12:30 am this morning was the start of a total lunar eclipse which lasted for over 2 hours - at least that is how much of it I actually saw.
I had read that this eclipse was very unique in that the last time this event occurred - the same day as the winter solstice - was almost 400 years ago.
I went to bed about 10:30 pm and set my alarm for 12:30 am
It was about 12:45 am when I walked outside. It had rained heavily the night before and I was actually expecting it to be cloudy. I wish I could have seen my own face when I stepped out into the moonlight and saw that the eclipse had already began. I seriously let out a gasp.....then stood there like a child spellbound - so excited I was simple there in the presence of something so breathtaking.
I pulled my tico wire/plastic rocking chair from the covered porch and sat there on the sidewalk. It was here I remembered I had a tripod and went rummaging thru the closet till I found it. Set up the camera and started taking photos. The best camera I have does not have a great zoom, but over the next hour and a half I managed to capture somewhat of the moment.
Sitting in a rocking chair in the still quiet of a dark clear night - in the presence of something very mystical - gives one lots of time to think.
For as long as I can remember I have been captivated by a full moon - well, who isn't???
The moon has been there from the very beginning. She has seen it all and every person that has ever lived on the earth at some time in their life has gazed upon a full moon and just wondered.........
A number of times in my life, I have actually tried to look upon a full moon thru the eyes of another - Cleopatra, once an eskimo woman sitting outside an igloo (seriously), a climber alone at the top of a mountain, once a person lost at sea.....all very random thoughts - no idea why.....but, at that moment I was there. Gazing upon a full moon is the only experience I know of that every person ever born has shared with all humanity.
But it is the lovers - I believe - the ones who stand holding each other in her beautiful light that she truly smiles upon.
I sat there for over 2 hours. I saw the last spark of light fade away. I thought the moon would actually disappear but instead - from my view point - saw the moon turn a soft golden color. I had no idea the darkness would last so long -it seemed like forever. I was there when she came back to life. I waited another 20 minutes or so, once I was sure all was well with the world, then returned to bed.
That was about 2:45 a.m. I was grateful I had made the effort - sad about so much I had reflected upon. I remember the many times spent with my family looking at the sky. One night - so many, many years ago when all the boys were young, my husband and I with the 3 boys pulled the huge trampoline out to the back highest point on our 2 1/2 acres. That night all 5 of us laid on the trampoline watching a meteor shower in the brilliant central California night sky.
So many memories.............it made me sad to be here alone. Alone in beautiful Costa Rica - still amazed that I even exist here. So small and in the realm of time - pretty insignificant.
Until this night I had never - ever seen a total eclipse. Either the sky was not clear, I was unaware, just didn't make the effort. Despite being alone.......I am so grateful for the gift the beautiful Costa Rica sky gave me this night.
Here's more info I just copied and paste from the internet:
Skygazers with a clear view in North America and Europe were greeted with a celestial treat early Tuesday, as a unique total lunar eclipse turned the Moon pink, coppery or even a blood red.
Coinciding eerily with the northern hemisphere's mid-winter solstice -- for the first time in almost four centuries -- the eclipse showed the Sun, the Earth and its satellite as they directly aligned, with the Moon swinging into the cone of shadow cast by its mother planet.
Despite being in shadow, the Moon did not become invisible, as there was still residual light deflected towards it by our atmosphere.
Most of this refracted light is in the red part of the spectrum and as a result the Moon, seen from Earth, turned a reddish, coppery or orange hue, sometimes even brownish.
At 0741 GMT -- the official start time of the eclipse -- a small crowd stood amazed in a Reykjavik parking lot as the moon appeared bright red in the Icelandic sky.
"We couldn't be happier with the weather here -- a clear sky is ideal as you can see. I'm always in awe seeing that big red Moon hanging over us," said 30-year-old Saevar Helgi Bragason, the chairman of the Icelandic Amateur Astronomical Society.
The society had set up a telescope for the 30 or so people who braved the bitter cold to observe the Moon and stars.
"I've seen a solar eclipse here in Iceland, but this is something else. Absolutely magnificent," said Torfi Olafur Sverrisson, a bank IT worker in his 40s witnessing a lunar eclipse for the first time.
"This is incredible, especially being able to view it up-close (thanks to the telescope) and not only the Moon, but Saturn as well," 35-year old Bergny said.
Bragason explained that although lunar eclipses happened every two or three years, few had ever seen one.
"We wanted to give people the chance to view this lunar eclipse through a telescope because not many people have ever seen this happen, even if it's quite common," he told AFP.
"We'll see it again here in Iceland in two years for example," he said.
But the fact that the eclipse fell on the exact date of the winter solstice is an extremely rare occurrence and it will only happen next in December 21, 2094, according to Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory, quoted by NASA.
The last time it happened was on December 21, 1638.
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