Tuesday, December 21, 2010

It Reach!

Well, I actually stayed awake to witness the totality of the lunar eclipse last night (this morning).  This was not an easy task for me.   I got very little sleep afterwards and I am now practically fighting the Sirens of slumber.  Having said that, I apologize, in advance, for the length of this post.

There is something mystical about a full moon:  some say it's romantic, others say it brings out the craziness in people.  Wolves, coyotes and dogs are known to howl at the moon.

And, with it being eclipsed last night, I can certainly say it brought out my 'crazies'.  In the hope I could capture a video of the event to show all of you who were under cloudy skies, I decided to stay awake and set my laptop outside, pointing skywards, to record the event.

I also grabbed my camera to take a few stills however I do not have a tripod and I knew the pics wouldn't be great, but I took some anyway.  With the laptop recording, I snapped a few shots and, suddenly, the camera's battery was about to die.  This was about 2:15 a.m EST.  I grabbed my extra battery and plugged it in hoping to charge it up enough to catch a shot or two of the total eclipse that was supposed to occur around 2:45 a.m.

Since the moon was so high in the sky and, in order to steady the camera, I had to lie (lay? - I still can't get that one right) down on the bench that surrounds the pool.

Click, click, click.  Battery dies.  It's 2:40 a.m.  I run into the house to grab the other battery and head back outside.  Apparently my dogs - four in all - heard me in the backyard and came running.  I didn't have time to click another photo since all of them were mugging me, whining and wondering why I was still awake and lying on my back outside, in the cold.

I quickly secured my laptop from becoming the latest of dog toys and headed back into the house with the mutts in tow.  I tried to go back and grab a few more photos but Chase (my youngest dog) was stuck to my ass like Velcro (also one of her nicknames) and I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to lie (lay?) down and take any more shots.

Wait.  It gets worse.

After pouring myself a nightcap, I sit down to take a quick look at the video.  Suddenly, I hear a key turn the lock in our front door.  WTF?  It's just after 3 a.m.  In walks Josie, our Haitian gardener who works for us on Sundays.  Josie is also a loyal and dear friend.  Since my stepfather passed and we are two "vite vimen living alone", he looks in on us almost every morning - usually at around 6 a.m. - starts the coffee and takes the trash out to the curb on collection days.

I ask why he is here at 3 a.m. and he said it isn't 3.a.m. (we argue a lot, by the way).  I assured him that it was.  He checked his cell phone.  Oh, no! he groans and then laughs at himself.  He thought it was 5 a.m.  It was pointless to drive him home at that time of day/night and since it was rather chilly and he'd only have to start walking back as soon as I dropped him off, I stuck him in my car to catch a couple of hours of sleep and, of course, to keep warm.  It would appear that the time on his clock at home was incorrectly set.

So, back to the laptop I go.  By this time I was sooooo tired, all I wanted was to go to sleep.  When I went to turn off my computer, it asked me to save the video.  Fine.  As I am changing the folder location for the file, the video disappears!  There it is - gone!

Crap.

So, as not to disappoint, here are a few of the 'best' pics I got with my camera, sans nose prints from my dogs.  They are not great, but hey, I gave it a shot.




 











The ghost reflections from the lens gives them a bit of an omnious appearance.
The bottom left shot was taken just before the total eclipse (when my battery died).



Murphy leaves on Thursday.


18 comments:

  1. Oh my, what you went through last night. Good for you for trying, though. I depend on people like you to get the good photos while I sleep.

    ;-)

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  2. Reffie: You are a couple of hours behind me in time zones - did you stay up to watch it??

    Thanks, but the photos aren't really that clear - I would have taken better shots out of the video that I mysteriously trashed. Meh - I guess they aren't that bad.
    ;-)

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  3. Cool photos, Double 0! Sounds like a wild night, though... Dogs! Gardeners! Who knows what else might have been lurking out there. I definitely believe that everyone goes a little crazy during full moons... this is verified constantly by teachers around the world!

    Happy Solstice!

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  4. Boom Boom: Thanks! It was all well and good up until the full eclipse, then ... I dunno. It all went to pot.

    What? Teachers only get strange on full moons? I thought they were always strange (but in a good way, of course).
    ;-)

    Happy Solstice to you too! The good news (after my disaster last night) is that the days are now going to get longer!! Woo hoo!

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  5. Thanks for giving it a shot. Someone tweeted about a post with a video. It's 2 minutes of amazaballs. Glad you got to see it live, dog kisses and all.

    Pics are cool.

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  6. Cheryl: Heh, heh, "amazaballs" - I didn't know you could do that on Twitter, but then I don't tweet.

    I was really surprised that the dogs didn't discover my 'experiment' earlier than they did, yet I'm super pissed that I lost the video. C'est la vie.

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  7. Oh dear, I would have given up, no question about it. But at least the pictures are pretty. Way to go, Double-O.

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  8. Ziva: I used to be a night owl when I was much younger and at that time it would have been no problem to stay up so late.

    I think it was visible for you (if there were no clouds) around 5 or 6 a.m. but, because of it's untimely appearance over the Western hemisphere, not many people gave it any thought - besides, it was mostly overcast over here.

    At any rate, I got the pics, and thanks!
    ;-)

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  9. Wow, those are some excellent pics! I considered staying up for it too, but it was too cold to get up, and plus there a crapload of snow outside. I figured someone else would get some nice shots of it. Thankfully, you were that person ;)

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  10. Mike: Thanks, but don't look too closely - they are a bit fuzzy, as was I.
    ;-)

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  11. Double O- Didn't I read and comment on this yesterday? I'm confused. I know I read it. Or maybe being sick made me dream I read it. I don't remember the photos though. I remember you lying in the grass and the dogs thinking you wanted a cuddle. And this is not the place I was before is it? Please help. Am I losing my mind?

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  12. Linda: I think you had a little to much to drink at BonyMike's last night and got that psycho-babble that I get in my head from sleep deprivation. Heh, heh.

    Actually, you made a comment on my earlier post about the eclipse. You may have, in fact, intended to comment but noticed that you were running late to a party(?), or you might be recalling the comments me and BonyMike were making on the night of the eclipse on one of his post, "Oh my god! Run ..." - I did mention there that I was mugged by my dogs and that the gardener showed up way too early.

    It's either of those things or BonyMike forgot to return the squirrly watch he got from Ziva and we just keep doing this over, and over, and over ...

    No worries. It's been a busy week for all. Hope you're feeling better! (I mean, other than the hangover.)
    ;-)

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  13. Good for you for staying up to witness it. You witnessed science and history. I meant to stay up...but then I decided to sleep.
    Great pics, I feel like I was there with you.

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  14. Sandra: Thanks! I wish it wasn't so high in the sky though - it was hard to grab those few photos.

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  15. I still can't get over the fact that you and I live about 2,500 miles apart and yet we were looking at the same moon at the same time and sending one another notes about it.

    I know, I know. The Internet's been around for 30 years now and I ought to be over it. But I'm not. It was soooooo cool!

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  16. It was cloudy here. Completely clear up until around 11:00 and then it just clouded over like a mean, vicious weather demon thingy.

    I love the image of you watching it on your back with a laptop to take photos. It's a new world we live in.

    Merry Christmas.

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  17. BonyMike: Yes, I still think it was neato, too! (Gawd, we sound like we're both twelve again.) I wish I could've stayed up longer to continue messaging, but after the dogs and the gardener incident I was toast. Maybe we'll meet again at the next eclipse?
    ;-)

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  18. Frank: There were some light clouds starting here too at around 11 p.m., but they quickly cleared up. I'm disappointed you weren't able to see it and am still kicking myself for losing the video. Nertz.

    The eclipse that I think we both saw some years ago occurred in August 1989 (I looked it up), so it was closer to 20 years, not 30. Um, would you like some carbon for that dating? (Yeah, yeah - I've been waiting awhile to use that one.)
    ;-)

    Thanks for the image comment - it was all well and good until the dogs discovered me. I'm rather surprised it took them that long.

    Again, Merry Christmas.

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