Worth Losing Sleep

Our family stayed late at Tae Kwon Do last night. After the Artist's class, we watched the adult class. Or perhaps I should say we listened. The class sat still and listened to Master W. speak about the belt test a small group of students took on Saturday.

A student was testing for the highest rank ever achieved in his school, a second dan black belt. One student, going through some hard times with an impending long distance family move, did not concentrate or perform well on the test. Master W. had some tough news to deliver and he did not enjoy it.

In the end we all learned how seriously Master W. takes the tests, training, and expectations of his black belt students. He clearly explained why the student failed the test. This is not something that happens often, so it was slightly alarming to hear. But at the same time, it increased the admiration Rick and I have for Master W. and illustrated that, at his school, belts have great value and are earned rather than bestowed.
After the class, and a good-bye cake for the family that is moving, we arrived home after the Engineer's bedtime. But before we left we heard that there was to be a lunar eclipse visible in North America early the next morning.

The Artist we very excited for a chance to see an eclipse (last March I think clouds prevented us from seeing one). She set her alarm for four a.m. That meant I had to set mine too.

Maybe I didn't read carefully about the time it was to start. Or maybe Daylight savings time got in the way. But for the first hour nothing happened. The Artist and I dozed on the couch, waking every 15 minutes to check whether the eclipse had started or not.

Finally, shortly after 5 a.m., we could see a shadow beginning to take a bite out of the large full moon. But we were both still so heavily drowsed with sleep that we kept returning to the couch and re-setting the alarm on my phone for another 15 minutes. Another nap, and we saw this: Shortly before sunrise, the entire moon was dark. We were silently awed by the glowing outline in between tree branches low in the sky.

I set the alarm for another 10 minutes, but next time I awoke, the sun was up, the moon was too low to see in my suburban surroundings. We would not be able to see the veil lifted from the moon. I enjoyed the next solid hour of uninterrupted sleep instead.

Note: these photos were taken with the camera zoomed in to enlarge the image. The images are distorted as a result.

A post script for Cleveland Indians fans...
How about that round the horn triple play last night!!!
Mike Hegan's call was excellent too!