Monday, January 28, 2019

"Moonstruck!" : the Blood Moon of 2019

This is a 24-hour celestial drama with the moon as the main character.

The story begins with the setting of the moon that was just hours away from becoming a Wolf Moon.




I watched from our balcony on this extremely cold morning of January 20, starting at around 8:00 a.m.

The moon augmented more and more as it neared the horizon.




As I watched and took pictures, I noticed that the lunar disk formed ridges around its edge, as opposed to a smooth disk while up in the sky, and it truly looked like a blazing ball.




I watched until the last glow faded away.




At noon, hubby and I drove to a nearby cape for our usual photowalk. Shortly thereafter, we saw the enormous moon rising behind the trees, almost transparent and yet enchanting.




We proceeded to the sea afterward. The moon had ascended higher by the time we got there.




It sailed smoothly across the pink layer of the sky....




....toward the airplane that was getting ready for the landing.




The sky shifted colors to deep blue and purple as the moon journeyed on.




For one last time before we left the place, I took a few up-close shots of this luminary that held me spellbound and which would soon be eclipsed as it would pass through the earth's shadow.






The night advanced and deepened. At home, the moon was not visible from our side of the building. After preparing some warm winter clothes in case I had to go out of our apartment to capture the blood moon and after setting my alarm clock at 4:30 a.m., I retired for the night.

January 21 arrived. I checked through our kitchen window for the moon. Yes, it was viewable from our kitchen and balcony! I didn't have to go out after all, only to our balcony where I could set up my tripod.

The total duration of the eclipse would be 5 hours and 12 minutes, but I started to shoot from the partial eclipse, skipping the penumbral phase. I planned to shoot every 15 minutes, taking a nap in between shots. In some instances, I overslept, thus missing some of the phases.




When the partial eclipse was ending, thin clouds gathered around the lunar disk. It was still a  beautiful sight though.







I went back to sleep in the sofa while waiting for the moonset just like the other day. When I awoke, the moon was gone and broad daylight greeted my searching, sleepy eyes.

That's okay. I was satisfied with the entire drama. It was an amazing 24-hour lunar show that got me "moonstruck"!

It's a one-of-a-kind drama that silently declares the glory of the One who created it.

"He has made the moon for appointed times."
(Psalm 104:19a, Psalm 19:1)


super blood wolf moon 2019


P.S. 
Sometimes, birds are also bedazzled by the moon. 😊😊





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Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Popping Up!

I've been quiet for almost a year. It's not that I have nothing to write or photos to share. I have quite a lot of these things which have not been let into my cyber home. Exciting and meaningful events transpired over the year, which are worth treasuring in my blog. The trouble is that I just felt that my blogging juice had drained out, though I still love to read the interesting blogs of those that I follow.


always enjoying the frequent aurora shows seen from our balcony


Writing, nature and photography are still my passion that keeps burning inside me. I have been out in the natural world recently more than ever. Hubby and I have been actively birding, photo-walking in the wild in search of interesting things in nature. I share my pictures with my personal friends in other sites where I write the stories behind the photos.


photo-walking in the freezing winter wonderland


Arctic redpoll



Why I could not get myself to write here as I used to remains vague to me. Maybe it has to do with my overwhelming stockpile of photos. As many of my readers know, I use a LOT of pictures in my blog. The problem comes when I choose the images to include. I have so much to choose from, and it's exhausting just to go over all the pics and then pick what's best to represent my stories. Yes, I think that's the main block getting in my way. Another could be lack of time and fatigue after my jobs. I usually feel so exhausted at the end of the day that I can only manage to do the necessary things.


I still love being among the snow-laden trees


And then the itch to blog keeps annoying me, goading me to mull over the matter. It wouldn't go away, so I have to give myself a little push, though not so hard, having in mind my past resolve that I must do things in my stride.


still peering at the tiny ice crystals and taking macro shots


As you can see, I spurred myself to write this after a long time. I hope this is not the only time but there will be more coming up. And I hope that I can keep up my stride. Maybe one of these days I could verbally and visually stroll back in time through this blog.


early winter by the city river


And....I must restrain myself from using so many pictures!


the harbor where we frequent to watch the sunset, look for birds and broken ice bits


So this is all for now. Till next time.....


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