The Darkest Night

The winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night. Because we are tilting further away from the sun than any other point in the year it is also the darkest night. This year the solstice happened to start on the same night as a total lunar eclipse. These two events last coincided 372 yrs ago, yet we knew it was coming and scientists had it all mapped out down to the minute. Awesome, right?

Humans have celebrated the solstice since the Stone Age. It's a welcome of the sun's rebirth. Around 2am we reached the total eclipse...Miles woke up and we asked him if he wanted to look at the moon. He did so we carted him out to see the purple, red ball in the sky.

To me this eclipse was amazing because it is an example of nature's awe and it is a reminder that our insignificant existence is but a blip on the timetable of the universe. I also like that it serves as a testament to the power of knowledge and the truth that comes from scientific thought. In ancient times when moon lore was popular and eclipses were seen as bad omens or mystical events Aristotle observed the rounded shadow of the Earth on the moon's surface during an eclipse and made the bold declaration that the Earth was round. It's a little bit humbling to think that I can make that same observation from my front yard. Thank you Aristotle!