Lunar moment

A monumental event occurred early this morning. I slept through it. I'm referring to the eclipse of the moon, of course, an eclipse that was total in Seattle and that was visible in Seattle -- believe it or not -- because of the lack of cloud cover.

And not just any old eclipse. This was the first time that an eclipse of the moon occurred on the winter solstice since 1638. How's that for a dark occurrence? Black on black. Ain't seen the like since King Charles I was ruling in England, waiting for an ax to bring about his own personal eclipse.

And yet, I forgot all about it, went to bed without looking outside to see its commencement, and slept right through its reaching totality after midnight. Have to wait now until 2094 for such a momentous event to occur again. Some question as to whether I'll be around at that time.

The event was as rare and wondrous as some baseball landmarks. "First time in World Series play that a shortstop has re-tied his left shoelace more than once during extra innings." See what I mean? I'd probably shut off the TV early and miss that critical benchmark as well.