~Sam~
10-28-2004, 06:04 PM
Yes, I wondered, as I stood and leaned over the half-opened dutch door next to the goat pen...
How many total eclipses of the moon have I stood there, looking up at the sky?
How many lifetimes have I spent upon this Earth? I don't think it's really important, but, I wonder nonetheless.
Last night's total eclipse of the moon was awesome. Kenny and I went over to the barn to get the best veiw. He took a folding chair to sit in, but I kept moving around to keep the smoke from my cigarette out of his face. (Nice Girl)
So, we from there we watched the progress of Earth's shadow as it marched across the face of the full moon.
The sky, for once, was cooperative. All of the past eclipses have been obscured by clouds. There were stratocumulous clouds in the atmosphere last night, but they only served to focus our attention on the Earth's true movement.
We watched. We waited. And, we were rewarded by a spectacular display of the solar system's movement through time and space. The Moon's journey to totality was longer than we expected. The moon never became cresent in shape, that's because the Earth is so much larger than the moon. I would hazard a guess that the Earth's shadow was three times the diameter of the moon's. And the clouds that were passing across this astronomical event only added to our watching pleasure. The clouds didn't obscure the moon's exlipse, it only kept us from becoming bored. You know the old saying? "A watched pot never boils." Well, a watched moon is Slow to reach totalily in eclipse.
The clouds would cause us to question... "Is there still a sliver of light on the top of the moon?" "No."
"Look! It's in totality Now!" "And Look! The moon looks Red, doesn't it?" And then another cloud would come by and we'd wait until the moon was visible again so that we could mark its progress.
I'm glad I'm alive. Lifetimes ago, I would probably have feared this astronomical phenomenon. Perhaps I would have been moved to sacrifice a lamb or a child to appease the gods to make the moon re-appear out of its gloom and doom. I wonder.
This morning, after Kenny dropped me back at the house after taking my truck in for inspection and emissions testing, my girlfriend's message was waiting for me on the telephone.
I called her back. She too, was moved by last night's show. She remembered back to when she was seventeen and the moon turned red in totality.
Then we talked of her sons. One of them called me a couple of days ago. He needed money for school tuition. Has worked himself up into a state of stress that won't let him think of his own solutions to his problems.
We could send him the money, but that would be a quick fix. And a bad one at that. You see, I'm paying his mother's taxes so that she'll have a place to live out her life. I know that this is called "enabling", but in the end, we're enabling her to live in her own house. Her behavior won't change. And like it or not, I don't want to see her living out in the street at the age of 56. I also send her money for incidentals and cigarettes... Charity begins at home... with friends.
But! As easy as it would be for me to send him the bucks he wants and needs... what would I be doing for him and the rest of his life? This is a dangerous precident I see happening here. I don't want to be the source of his holding his hand out for the rest of his life.
When Ken was a junior in college, he was married and had a new baby. He had worked to get himself into school, and was working to keep himself there, support a wife and child, and make a better life for all of them.
How, could I possibly send this healthy young man money to bail him out of a situation that will probably occur again and again throughout his life? If money is your only problem, then son, you have No problem.
One needs to learn how to stand up on their own two feet and walk through life on their own power.
So, Ken and I talked about this, and came up with the same solution... to tell him some of the secrets for getting along in this world on your own. Ken will call him tonight and talk. I hope he choses the easier way... do it on your own... you will be strengthened and rewarded beyond belief.
OK. Now I'm going out, saddle up Raven and take a long ride on a country road.
I hope I'm alive to see another eclipse of the moon. But if I'm not... I sure did enjoy the one I watched last night.
Love Ya's.
Sam
http://www.corvus.com/images/rj-25mm.jpg
How many total eclipses of the moon have I stood there, looking up at the sky?
How many lifetimes have I spent upon this Earth? I don't think it's really important, but, I wonder nonetheless.
Last night's total eclipse of the moon was awesome. Kenny and I went over to the barn to get the best veiw. He took a folding chair to sit in, but I kept moving around to keep the smoke from my cigarette out of his face. (Nice Girl)
So, we from there we watched the progress of Earth's shadow as it marched across the face of the full moon.
The sky, for once, was cooperative. All of the past eclipses have been obscured by clouds. There were stratocumulous clouds in the atmosphere last night, but they only served to focus our attention on the Earth's true movement.
We watched. We waited. And, we were rewarded by a spectacular display of the solar system's movement through time and space. The Moon's journey to totality was longer than we expected. The moon never became cresent in shape, that's because the Earth is so much larger than the moon. I would hazard a guess that the Earth's shadow was three times the diameter of the moon's. And the clouds that were passing across this astronomical event only added to our watching pleasure. The clouds didn't obscure the moon's exlipse, it only kept us from becoming bored. You know the old saying? "A watched pot never boils." Well, a watched moon is Slow to reach totalily in eclipse.
The clouds would cause us to question... "Is there still a sliver of light on the top of the moon?" "No."
"Look! It's in totality Now!" "And Look! The moon looks Red, doesn't it?" And then another cloud would come by and we'd wait until the moon was visible again so that we could mark its progress.
I'm glad I'm alive. Lifetimes ago, I would probably have feared this astronomical phenomenon. Perhaps I would have been moved to sacrifice a lamb or a child to appease the gods to make the moon re-appear out of its gloom and doom. I wonder.
This morning, after Kenny dropped me back at the house after taking my truck in for inspection and emissions testing, my girlfriend's message was waiting for me on the telephone.
I called her back. She too, was moved by last night's show. She remembered back to when she was seventeen and the moon turned red in totality.
Then we talked of her sons. One of them called me a couple of days ago. He needed money for school tuition. Has worked himself up into a state of stress that won't let him think of his own solutions to his problems.
We could send him the money, but that would be a quick fix. And a bad one at that. You see, I'm paying his mother's taxes so that she'll have a place to live out her life. I know that this is called "enabling", but in the end, we're enabling her to live in her own house. Her behavior won't change. And like it or not, I don't want to see her living out in the street at the age of 56. I also send her money for incidentals and cigarettes... Charity begins at home... with friends.
But! As easy as it would be for me to send him the bucks he wants and needs... what would I be doing for him and the rest of his life? This is a dangerous precident I see happening here. I don't want to be the source of his holding his hand out for the rest of his life.
When Ken was a junior in college, he was married and had a new baby. He had worked to get himself into school, and was working to keep himself there, support a wife and child, and make a better life for all of them.
How, could I possibly send this healthy young man money to bail him out of a situation that will probably occur again and again throughout his life? If money is your only problem, then son, you have No problem.
One needs to learn how to stand up on their own two feet and walk through life on their own power.
So, Ken and I talked about this, and came up with the same solution... to tell him some of the secrets for getting along in this world on your own. Ken will call him tonight and talk. I hope he choses the easier way... do it on your own... you will be strengthened and rewarded beyond belief.
OK. Now I'm going out, saddle up Raven and take a long ride on a country road.
I hope I'm alive to see another eclipse of the moon. But if I'm not... I sure did enjoy the one I watched last night.
Love Ya's.
Sam
http://www.corvus.com/images/rj-25mm.jpg