WASHINGTON, DC
Tonight I sat on the steps of the U.S. Capitol as the shadow of the earth eclipsed the moon. Three Capitol police were my only company as the moon darkened. The occasional runner and a few tourists meandered by on the plaza between the Capitol and the Library of Congress, but otherwise the normally busy area was quiet. It is my favorite time of the day to be out on the National Mall or around any of the landmark buildings, museums, and monuments. Though never deserted, once night falls, the mall is quiet save the rustling of the wind in the trees, and the only lights are the spotlights on the glistening white stone museums and memorials. Tonight, the air was cool enough for a sweatshirt, a pleasant reprieve from the relentless summer heat that has pursued right on through September, so that I didn't even notice that the autumn equinox had occurred.
As the moon reddened, I leaned back, my elbows propped on the wide stone steps, and thought about the last time I watched a blood moon eclipse. It was August of 2007, and I was on my 11th month in Antarctica. I laid in the snow on a hillside away from the lights of station, and watched the moon change. As the moon grew darker and redder, the auroras seem to grow brighter and brighter. Even then, I knew full well that it was quite possibly the most spectacular thing I will ever witness in my lifetime. I laid in the snow until I couldn't possibly stand the cold anymore, and very reluctantly climbed back into the Pisten Bully with numb fingers and toes.
Tonight's moon could hardly compete with that, especially with the light pollution from the city. But it was beautiful nonetheless. When the last sliver of white moonlight disappeared, I hopped on my bike and rode down a few blocks to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum where the Observatory was open tonight. By the time I locked my bike and ascended the steps, the previously patchy clouds had engulfed the sky entirely, obliterating the eclipsed moon altogether. I waited for nearly an hour as visitors tried to catch a glimpse of the moon between breaks in the clouds through the large telescope, but eventually gave up, and settled for what I had seen with my naked eye.
