LUNAR ECLIPSE

2 a.m Monday January 21st 2019
I've been leaning out my third floor South facing front window on and off since 9:50 trying to get peeks at it while well-swathed against this frigid, clear night.
 
This is the last I'll see in my life and it's wonderful.
What a gift
 "Several cultures have myths related to lunar eclipses or allude to the lunar eclipse as being a good or bad omen. The Egyptians saw the eclipse as a sow swallowing the moon for a short time; other cultures view the eclipse as the Moon being swallowed by other animals, such as a jaguar in Mayan tradition, or a three legged toad in China. Some societies thought it was a demon swallowing the Moon, and that they could chase it away by throwing stones and curses at it. The Greeks were ahead of their time when they said the Earth was round and used the shadow from the lunar eclipse as evidence. Some Hindus believe in the importance of bathing in the Ganges River following an eclipse because it will help to achieve salvation. Similarly to the Mayans, the Incans believed that lunar eclipses occurred when a jaguar would eat the Moon, which is why a blood moon looks red. The Incans also believed that once the jaguar finished eating the Moon, it could come down and devour all the animals on Earth, so they would take spears and shout at the Moon to keep it away. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that a lunar eclipse was when the Moon was being attacked by seven demons. This attack was more than just one on the Moon, however, for the Mesopotamians linked what happened in the sky with what happened on the land, and because the king of Mesopotamia represented the land, the seven demons were thought to be also attacking the king. In order to prevent this attack on the king, the Mesopotamians made someone pretend to be the king so they would be attacked instead of the true king. After the lunar eclipse was over, the substitute king was made to disappear (possibly by poisoning). In some Chinese cultures, people would ring bells to prevent a dragon or other wild animals from biting the Moon.In the nineteenth century, during a lunar eclipse, the Chinese navy fired its artillery because of this belief.  During the Zhou Dynasty in the Book of Songs, the sight of a red Moon engulfed in darkness was believed to foreshadow famine or disease."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse

The whole event was live here if you wish to indulge

 https://youtu.be/6Fh7lW9GqiI

IT'S ALL RIGHT

It's All Right

It's all right to leave everything.

Everything waits quite patiently,

well practiced in the art of being.

 Even seashells from distant shores,

the fallen feathers of  birds, old rocks

to remind this space of all other places.

The museum of myself surrounds me.

I am embedded within it here in rooms

where memories are visible as artifacts.

I'm the main exhibit and sole curator.

The museum is my home. Here's where I,

an aged woman, live my life in the everyday.

It's all right, tonight I made my singular mark;

three long flights to the street, around several blocks

to the lunch-room of what we called School for the Deaf.

Ignoring that irony, I counted voters, unknown

and long known neighbors who elected participation.

At home, 'hen of the woods' soup waiting to soothe me.

I remember when one could ride the 'Vermonter'

straight through to Canada, absent of border guards.

Now fears have returned to dominate my 'golden years'.

It's all right. I've rivers of sweet dreams flowing;

dreams wherein love is the answer to every question,

where kindness is the highest value and empathy prevails.

~*~

Manhattan New York

November 6, 2018

CHURCH ON SUNDAY

Here's a delicious day-trip to

Western Massachusetts

http://flowerhillfarm.blogspot.com/

Here's a trip to

Westfield Massachusetts

 It's s all in the details

 Morning has Woken

 Morning Mist

 On a Clear Day

Standing Still

Now a trip back to

Manhattan, New York

Good Company

Good Eats

Rx for Eyes

Computer 
Like an Old Tree
 
Post card from a friend

(You may have read this before, in which case, I repeat myself)

Well, the computer just did it to me again...locked me up in the middle of constructing a blog post while I was trying to upload some snapshots I just took, and while all my photo files were on the screen.  Firefox wouldn't quit and finally I force quit by turning the power off, and back on.  Things are back with the alarming exception of my sudden inability to upload from the camera to my picture file on the computer.  Perhaps another function just died or is "no longer supported".  It's just like when the disc player died about two years ago--This little ol' Mac is like an old tree on a shrinking landscape, it sacrifices first the least important parts in order to survive.

I will too

~*~