I had grand plans to photograph the "Blood Moon" lunar eclipse early yesterday morning. Given our often cloudy skies, it's rare that we get to see a lunar eclipse here (or maybe just rare that I am motivated to try to see one). We were blessed with a clear night so I thought my odds were good. I got my camera ready and based on the visibility predicted in the newspaper, I got up in the pre-dawn darkness to grab some photos.
At 4 a.m., the moon still looked perfectly normal. And that WAS a bit early. So I went back to bed and looked again about 5:15 a.m. But by then, the moon had sunk so low on the horizon that it was behind the apartment buildings overlooking our garden -- the buildings eclipsed my view of the eclipse, you might say. So for me, it was a bust -- but others in the UK apparently got to see it.
Maybe I could have walked up the street and found a clear vantage point, but I wasn't that motivated. Oh well.
Dave is home from his Belgian sojourn. Apparently the kids are all back healthy and in one piece, and the concerts went well. He returned with some Belgian treats like beer and cheese and fruit preserves, so for the next few days I'll be transported to Belgium myself, at least in a culinary sense. Olga was funny when he walked in the house -- it took her a moment to get excited. I'm not sure she recognized him immediately. I wonder if her eyesight is going. She's already quite deaf. But she sees squirrels out on the lawn, so she's not too blind.
Tramp, our local graffiti artist, left this on some uneven pavement on West End Lane. It does make people look, so maybe he saved someone from a stumble.
(Top photo: Flowering quince on our street.)
I like Tramp’s art, and I think he did a good deed here. Glorious color on the flowering quince. Glad Dave is back — with treats. We’re just finally seeing the sky this morning, and it’s blue. A rare color.
ReplyDeleteI've had the same experience as Dave with our own dogs. I think they need the scent rather than the sight to quickly remember.
ReplyDeleteLove that paving stone graffiti - very social. Is Tramp's first name Donald by any chance? I think I might have heard of him before. Can't think where though.
ReplyDeleteI missed the blood moon eclipse as well.
ReplyDeleteLove that paving slab message.
ReplyDeleteThe moon eclipse was visible here but I slept through it.
I like that little warning, though I wonder how many will actually see it before stumbling.
ReplyDeleteThat first photo is lovely, and thanks for identifying it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tramp!
ReplyDeleteLove the flowering quince. They grow here so I don't know why I've never thought to get one. I was totally unmotivated to see the eclipse to the point I don't know if the sky was clear or not. Odd that Olga didn't react right away. You'd think she would know his smell at least.
ReplyDeleteLove the quince and the Tramp warning pictures! Surely the bright green color would get people's attention!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know about an eclipse!
The quince is beautiful. I hope the fruits develop.
ReplyDeleteTramp's warning art is clever and will have prevented some stumbles, I'm sure.
I did look at the eclipse when I woke up in the night. The moon was partially covered and starting to glow red. I went back to sleep then...
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of that colorful tree! I enjoyed the cute graffiti!
We got up for the eclipse. Well. Technically, we got up to pee, but the two things happily coincided.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I walked to the store, and then over to the post office to pick up my postcard stamps for the Ides Of March. It was a beautiful day and there were crocus everywhere. I didn't even wear a coat.
Glad Dave's back, and hope that your greeting was a bit more enthusiastic than Olga's.
I saw it about 11:30 which was as late as I wanted to stay up! I love Belgian beer and chocolate.
ReplyDeleteWhat?? No Belgian chocolates? I remember when I went to Bruges, I visited plenty of chocolate shops and spent some money there too.
ReplyDeleteI checked that link for the moon photos. I saw the one from Stonehenge. That would have been a good place to view it.
I didn’t know that quince was red! Who knew
ReplyDeleteI'm with Sharon - where's the chocolate? I'd feel cheated. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI still have my pictures from a few years ago when we had the last one. Since our eclipse was at around 2 am, I was comfortable letting it pass me by, literally and figuratively.
ReplyDeleteOf the many field trips I did kids were usually well behaved.
ReplyDeleteI love Tramp's work - cute AND practical! It was cloudy when I went to bed and I wasn't about to set an alarm for it (sleep becomes precious once it becomes more difficult). I figured if nature called during the timeframe I'd take a look, but it didn't.
ReplyDeleteI only get up at 4 a.m. if Princess notifies me a potty break is required. Sometimes she lets me know she needs to go, and sometimes she tells me Penelope needs to go. The moon was beautiful and bright last night. I encouraged Princess to howl at it by howling myself. She thought I was nuts. Great work by Tramp.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
When we were in Bruges back in '85, we extended our stay by a day. I like to think it was because of the exquisite Belgian food.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Quince! The red is striking.
ReplyDeleteI knew about the eclipse but slept through it.
It must be good to have Dave back home. He brought home lots of great treats from Belgium.
Belgian treats sound good! I love that sidewalk art. Cute as a button.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Dave still had travel smell so Olga didn't realise it was him. I'm never motivated to look for eclipses. They get shown on the TV news so that's good enough for me.
ReplyDelete