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Posts Tagged ‘La Luna’

Early last night, needing a break from working on the Lord of the Little Burro blog post, I wandered out onto the terrace to check out the full moon rising over the city.  The night was clear, La Luna was brilliant, and she was going to be putting on quite a show in 6+ hours — a lunar eclipse.

Silvery full moon

April 14, 2014 – 7:21 PM (CDT)

There was no way I could stay up until then, though I did have fleeting thoughts of setting my alarm.  When bedtime came, I decided to leave it up to the fates or Semana Santa cohetes and church bells, though I did leave the Canon on her tripod, just in case.  The fates had it (probably because I didn’t eat dinner until 9:00 PM); I awoke around 2:00 AM, got up, took the camera out on the terrace, and looked up.  There was La Luna dressed as the Blood Red Queen.

Red colored eclipsed moon

April 15, 2014 – 2:20 AM (CDT)

That little spec below and to the right of the moon is Spica, the brightest star in the Virgo constellation.  It’s extra visible because of the eclipse.  In addition, about 10 degrees west of the moon, an even tinier reddish spec could also be seen (though not in this photo) — Mars came to the party, too!  And, if this weren’t enough lunacy for one night, I happened to remember, earlier in the day it looked like one of the blossoms on my Night Blooming Cereus might be ready to bloom.  Sure enough…

Flower of Night Blooming Cereus

April 15, 2014 – 3:05 AM (CDT)

What a spectacular night!  Though, how I made it to my 9:00 AM breakfast appointment, I’ll never know.  Definitely, early to bed tonight.

 

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It may not be Moon Over Parador, but it was moon from my mirador….  The colors of last night’s sunset were spectacular, no matter which way one looked.  It made for a beautiful full moon rising over the African tulip tree and rooftop tinaco of my old apartment.

6:56 PM (CST)

6:56 PM (CST)

6:57 PM (CST)

6:57 PM (CST)

Actually, the moon wasn’t officially full until 9:15 (CST) this morning, but the above was full enough for me!

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The crescent moon keeps a watchful eye over the sand paintings in the Plaza de la Danza, by day…

Painting handing on wall above the Plaza de la Danza

and by night…

Crescent moon between the bell towers of San Jose church, in Oaxaca

 

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Last night’s Supermoon from Casita Colibrí’s terrace…

Full moon rising

And, happy Vernal Equinox to all!

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I’m back in Mill Valley for a month-long holiday visit; loving all the festivities and spending time with family and Bay Area friends. The weather, on the other hand, has been a different story; it’s been gray, rainy, and winter high tides have brought intermittent flooding. I’m definitely no longer acclimated to this damp cold!

However, last night the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and I had iTunes shuffling through hundreds of “moon music” tunes, as I gazed up at the night’s celestial show; a total eclipse of a full moon on the Winter Solstice. It was the first total lunar eclipse to occur on the Winter Solstice since 1638! All was quiet, save for the occasional car heading up Mt. Tamalpais, as La Luna did her disappearing act. She started out big and bright, halo glowing, she then began turning orange, slowly going into hiding, and finally she went missing, not even a sliver of light in sight.

It was especially mystical, amazing, and wonderful because, as the moon was reaching total eclipse, I could hear the unmistakable gravelly voice of Bob Dylan, introducing the song, Mr. Moon ( I have lots of Theme Time Radio Hour music) by a band, in Dylan’s words, “you never heard of them probably, but should have.” The band, Clover, was composed of local guys I went to school (grammar and high school) with here in Mill Valley and… just as Alex Call (writer of 867-5309/Jenny) hit and held the final note, in his falsetto voice, the moon completely disappeared. A perfect moment!

Happy Winter Solstice to all!

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