Day 2 - 269 -- All Things Lunar

Today brought with it a confluence of lunar events. This full moon, falling closest to the the autumnal equinox, is termed a harvest moon. It is also this full moon that is celebrated in China and other areas of Asia with the Moon Festival. In China, this is much like Thanksgiving with many harvest-based dishes as part of the celebratory meal. One special dessert treat that I love is the moon cake. These are round pastries filled with black or red bean paste or lotus seed paste. They are very sweet, the filling being almost like a fudge. The very thin pastry that envelopes the paste is dainty with intricate designs. I've seen them in two sizes -- the small size of about 1.5-2 inches in diameter and the larger size that is closer to 5-6 inches in diameter. The larger variety often has a duck egg yolk baked in the centre of the paste. I do miss having access to these delights. The closest I've come here is a black bean paste with a rice dough wrapping -- found once in the imported food aisle.

Tonight I spent a lot of time staring at the sky -- along with many neighbours. I went for a walk first and saw a few students stepping out onto the porch to gaze skyward. Another neighbour was setting up the camera on a tripod and another family sat on the front porch to watch. It was very quiet, which seemed unusual, yet appropriate for the celestial show. The super-moon was indeed big and very very bright. The lunar eclipse was amazing to watch. I was out for 15 minutes at a time and then in for a few minutes to get things together for tomorrow. Luckily, this eclipse began just after 10 PM with full eclipse by 11:30ish. Others have been in the middle of the night, making it much more difficult to get up to view when the work alarm will follow shortly after returning to bed <smile>. This was the first time that I've seen a 'blood moon' -- that orangie-ish hue that the moon takes on when in the earth's shadow. So gorgeous. Other similar events in recent years have happened during rain and cloud, so the moon wasn't visible. Tonight was perfectly clear and I found the event amazing to view. This eclipse is the fourth in a lunar tetrad -- another less common event. All in all a very special night to gaze at the moon.

A couple of songs ran through my mind today when thinking of the moon happenings. The one that fit best is sung by a great Canadian singer/songwriter. I love the relaxing tone of the song -- it fits perfectly with the feeling of watching the eclipse tonight. Enjoy!

Harvest Moon -- Neil Young