The alarm rang in the wee hours of the morning, well before many people would consider rising. I got up, dressed, and trudged downstairs to go outside to witness a lunar eclipse. My dogs seemed befuddled by my unusual early-morning behavior but were more than willing to accompany me on this unexpected adventure.
The dogs sniffed around while I stood watching the moon slowly retreat from view. Everything happened as I expected, for a while: The moon became a crescent, then a sliver, and then it was virtually gone, although the darkened disc in the black sky was still just visible if you knew where to look. But then something happened I didn’t expect.
I continued watching, expecting a bright sliver to reappear. Instead, the dark disc faded even more and disappeared. I knew exactly where it was, but it wasn’t to be seen. Yet even though I couldn’t see it, I knew the moon was still there, just as it had been minutes before.
