Apparently many people around the world saw a blood moon this morning.
I saw condos.
As a teenager I would spend hours in the backyard, looking up at the night sky (yes, I did think that was fun).
With binoculars & star chart in hand, I would endeavour to identify constellations and planets and satellites and even the space shuttle when in orbit. I would stare endlessly at the moon, thinking about how astronauts had been there, and letting my mind wander further into the sci-fi realm…what if there were aliens hiding there? Perhaps a ship on the other side, invisible to human technology. Oh, my full-throttle imagination could (and still does!) think about those things for ages.
But anyway, there was this moon thing going on last night, or in my case; early this morning. Here in Toronto we had a very small window to view it, just over half an hour from the start until it would be swallowed up by the daylight.
So I was quite disappointed last night upon checking the weather reports, to find out that we were forecast to be cloudy/rainy at the specified time. Meteorologists on the various late-night news broadcasts assured me that was definitely the case, so that, I thought…was that.
When my alarm went off at 6am, I did the usual ‘hit snooze and turn on the TV‘, allowing myself those extra nine minutes to gradually wake up while listening to to the local Breakfast Television team.
Instead, I literally jumped out of bed when I heard them crowing about clear skies and ‘moon-cams’.
Never mind that I should be in the shower & getting ready for work…I was on a mission! Living downtown in a huge, bright city means I rarely get to participate in anything celestial…but the moon…hey, I can see the moon!
First stop - my 14th floor balcony. I quickly realised that my north-facing apartment didn’t allow me to see far enough to the west. No problem. With Frankie and Kevin on the TV telling me we had about 10 minutes until it was in full ‘blood’, I threw on some clothes and flip flops, grabbed keys and phone, and headed outside. We used to have a lovely roof deck that would have been perfect, but it’s now a forest of cell phone towers and therefore off limits to us mere residents. So street level it would have to be. No matter, I should still be able to see the moon from the end of my street, between the buildings. Shouldn’t I?
Full of optimism, down the elevator I went. I walked to the corner, and…nothing. Just a new condo building blocking that view. Okay, next corner - and another condo. A further block, another building in the way.
Desperation and reality was setting in. The sky to the east was beginning to brighten with the coming dawn. I was now several blocks from home, and knew I had to go back and get ready for work asap. But, just one more block, surely…nope. Just the proverbial condo, this time with a construction crane adding to the vista. And now I really had to hustle back.
To properly set the scene, you need to know that I’m somewhat immobilised at the moment. I’ve got a couple of broken toes and am sort of hobbling around. And because I’m not walking properly, my already dodgy knee isn’t happy either and stiffens up. So the end result: when I try to move quickly, I sort of lurch along. Add this to the fact that I was wearing mis-matched clothes, had barely run a comb through my hair, and was staring up at the sky almost the entire time…well I must have been quite the sight.
No doubt the early-riser business people and dog walkers I passed had good reason for giving me strange looks at every turn.
Unfortunately, realising this just gave me the giggles…which understandably elicited several more looks. I swear one woman moved her dog away from me while we were waiting at the crosswalk.
Anyway, I made it home without incident, showered and even with a subway delay I got to work in record time; now looking like a human being instead of an extra from a low budget zombie film.
I never did see the moon. But I did realise how much I miss it.
Toronto, 08 October 2014
