We are slow to rise this fine morning, but do not feel as though we are missing anything. Last night was full and rich…
By 1:00 am there is a tangible energy buzz aboard the Sea Lion. Many of us are already up and about, taking in this first hour of the day. There has been talk of lunar eclipse. By 1:15 am the bridge is full; deckhands, officers, and various night owls. Then it begins. We peer out the forward bridge windows, a thin, arcurate shadow on the face of the blazing, full moon. There is spontaneous conversation about eclipses…the shadow lengthens, the excitement grows. Then, visible in the aft bridge windows, a lime green glow in the northern sky. It coalesces into an undulating, contorted plane. Now, deeper green spires of light ascend from the widening curtain. It is other-worldly. On the opposite side of the sky it is still very much about our world. Our small planet continues to slip its shadow disc across the moon. Which sky to watch? The energy on the bridge is at zenith. The call goes out to the expedition leader’s cabin. For a moment there is a choice; wake up the whole ship with a P.A. announcement, or not? Then there is no choice. Everyone must witness this event. “Ladies and gentlemen, please join us on deck for a spectacular display of aurora borealis, and, a lunar eclipse.” Soon the foredeck is full with pajama clad gazers. The crenulated curtain becomes an arc, surrounding magnetic north. Simultaneously, behind us, the moon reaches full eclipse, illuminated only by sunlight rebounding to it from the earth, “earthshine”. But there is more. As if to punctuate the stimulation of our visual senses, the sound of whales blowing around the ship can be heard….it is just plain magic.
With these sensual memories swirling in our heads, we wake and begin a day that cannot be ordinary. We imagine earth shadows on the moon, as we hike to a stunning waterfall. We visualize green rays of light, as our bow parts the glassy harbor waters of the huddled fishing town of Petersburg. And even cetacean exhalations linger in our minds as our boots carry us over a double plank boardwalk, through a Doctor Seuss peat bog. These sensations convert to feelings, and fill our conversation as we feast on Alaskan crab at dinner. Perhaps a perfect ending to a day, that, for most of us, will never end….
By 1:00 am there is a tangible energy buzz aboard the Sea Lion. Many of us are already up and about, taking in this first hour of the day. There has been talk of lunar eclipse. By 1:15 am the bridge is full; deckhands, officers, and various night owls. Then it begins. We peer out the forward bridge windows, a thin, arcurate shadow on the face of the blazing, full moon. There is spontaneous conversation about eclipses…the shadow lengthens, the excitement grows. Then, visible in the aft bridge windows, a lime green glow in the northern sky. It coalesces into an undulating, contorted plane. Now, deeper green spires of light ascend from the widening curtain. It is other-worldly. On the opposite side of the sky it is still very much about our world. Our small planet continues to slip its shadow disc across the moon. Which sky to watch? The energy on the bridge is at zenith. The call goes out to the expedition leader’s cabin. For a moment there is a choice; wake up the whole ship with a P.A. announcement, or not? Then there is no choice. Everyone must witness this event. “Ladies and gentlemen, please join us on deck for a spectacular display of aurora borealis, and, a lunar eclipse.” Soon the foredeck is full with pajama clad gazers. The crenulated curtain becomes an arc, surrounding magnetic north. Simultaneously, behind us, the moon reaches full eclipse, illuminated only by sunlight rebounding to it from the earth, “earthshine”. But there is more. As if to punctuate the stimulation of our visual senses, the sound of whales blowing around the ship can be heard….it is just plain magic.
With these sensual memories swirling in our heads, we wake and begin a day that cannot be ordinary. We imagine earth shadows on the moon, as we hike to a stunning waterfall. We visualize green rays of light, as our bow parts the glassy harbor waters of the huddled fishing town of Petersburg. And even cetacean exhalations linger in our minds as our boots carry us over a double plank boardwalk, through a Doctor Seuss peat bog. These sensations convert to feelings, and fill our conversation as we feast on Alaskan crab at dinner. Perhaps a perfect ending to a day, that, for most of us, will never end….
