A Blood Moon

A blood moon appears in The Stars Prevail, setting the stage for murder. The image it conjures up in the reader's mind is unnerving, no? The rare opportunity to see a total lunar eclipse and blood moon presented itself across North America this week. Witnessing it meant I would have to climb out of bed after midnight and stand outside on a brisk March night. Brr. Doubting the sanity of that plan, I decided to ignore the lunar event until I heard that the next total lunar eclipse with a blood moon wouldn’t occur in North America for 27 years. Will I be around to enjoy it then? The odds are against me. And what if it rains or snows on that date? No, I best seize the day – or the night in this case.
 
I set my alarm for 1:00 a.m., put a jacket on the chair, and prayed for a cloudless sky before drifting to sleep under a cozy blanket. I woke to the sound of my alarm in a pitch dark room, put on my slippers, forgot the jacket, and stumbled outside. When I looked up, stars winked down on me and there it was – the moon slipping into the earth’s shadow, pulsing orange-red. My eyes snapped wide open! I stood in my sleeveless nightgown for quite a while, mesmerized by the phenomenon, before I realized I wasn’t cold. It was only 53 degrees out – downright balmy for mid-March – and I didn’t have a single goose-bump. No, I was in the throes of a heart-racing adventure: a once in a lifetime chance to see the cosmos put on a magic show.
 
When I finally retired I realized how desperately I need to have unusual events lift me out of my ordinary, ho-hum life. To have a unique experience set my heart racing, make my eyes water, and remind me of just how amazing life can be. We experience less as we grow older. The day-to-day raising of a family, holding down a job, taking care of our home or aging parents leaves little room for extraordinary experiences. We become inured to life’s offerings; too busy or too tired to care.
 
I’m indescribably happy that I crawled out of bed to witness the cosmos’ mind-boggling performance and eternally grateful that a blood moon dripped a bit of its magic down on me.