I'm a member of the Prince George Astronomy Centre (as you might guess by my blog name, I am a northern night watcher and writer), and I just wrote a piece for that group's newsletter. When I analyzed it at www.iwl.me, it turns out I write like J.D. Salinger.
In case they decide to round-file my story, I'd better give it the light of day, so to speak, right here:
December 20th, 2010: Total Lunar Eclipse!
Clear and cold was the forecast for December 20th, and this time, the weather forecaster wasn’t wrong. I tried to drum up a general air of excitement among my students and finally convinced a few of the faithful to come out and watch the eclipse with me. I teach English as a Second Language, and so, first, had to explain to my students exactly what an eclipse was. We decided to gather at the college dorm, where we could go inside to warm up. The front door faces south so we were assured of a good view.
Some of us headed over to the dorm at about 9:30 p.m. I now know that this was way too early, but we were eager, and we didn’t want to miss anything. Oliver, a member of our motley group, decided we should tromp through the snow and go into the forested area near the dorm. It would offer shelter from the wind, he said. So we broke trail and stood in among the trees. It was beautiful, with the full moon beaming down on the diamond-surfaced snow.
Among our group were two students from the University of Ottawa, visiting family here over the Christmas holiday. Tim is studying Russian, so I introduced him to Vlad and Nick, two Russian students at the college. Before long, they were singing Russian songs together as we stamped our feet and clapped our hands, trying to keep warm. The temperature hovered around -30, and although we were dressed for the weather, it doesn’t take long to get cold.
Another student joined us, but when it was discovered that he wasn’t wearing any boots—just socks and clogs—we told him he couldn’t stay outside, and Oliver walked back to the dorm with him.
In and out, we were in and out of the dorm many times in those few hours. Every time someone else went in or out, I asked, “Do you know about the eclipse? Here, take my binoculars and have a look.” It didn’t matter if I didn’t know them. One of the students from Nigeria was carrying out his garbage to the bin. “Have you ever seen an eclipse before?” I asked. “You don’t want to miss this one!”
It was exciting as we watched the shadow of the earth slice into that great silver moon. We watched and waited and waited and watched. Someone was using the computer in the dorm lobby to follow the eclipse “live” on the Internet. I think she preferred the warmth of the lobby to the bitter cold of the front walkway.
By 1:30 a.m., a thin layer of cloud had covered the sky, but we could still see the reddish glow of the shadowed moon. Mostly everyone was ready to pack it in by then. I drove my students home and then went back home myself. My kitchen window faces south, so I had a good view of the sky. I made a cup of tea and kept watching in the eerie light.
When I looked at the eclipse for the final time, it was 2:30 a.m. The bronze veil was being drawn back, once again revealing the bright white edge of the moon.
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