Calling down the Moon

Last night (27 September), wow!  Full Moon, Harvest Moon, Super Moon, Blood Moon, total eclipse of the Moon.  The only thing missing was an astronomical high tide, but the eclipse makes that impossible – wrong alignment of the three bodies.  Add to the lunar events the fact that we had a nearly crystal clear sky and warmer than usual temperatures – it was 12ºC on the coast, not summer but not bad for the end of September – and you have all the makings of a very good night.

As you can see I used my magic staff to pull the moon down a little early so I could do a twilight shot.

I went off to the beach to watch the eclipse.  Why?  Because the open spaces there give me a long view in all directions and very little artificial light to spoil any photos that I would take.  Despite the good weather I had the place mostly to myself, even before twilight.  Sure there were a few dog walkers on the beach and one person galloping across the sand on a very happy horse but they retreated before daylight waned.  I set up the tripods for my camera and my astronomical  binoculars, unfolded my deck chair and laid out the rest of my gear on a convenient picnic table, zipped up my parka and waited.  

Every now and again I would wander forward to where I had a better view of the beach.  This confirmed that I was alone except for one twenty-something woman who, clad in dark sweats, was promenading back and forth along the beach, always casting a glance in my direction when she passed.  She had an expectant look about her, the sort of look I recognized as “When is this person going to leave?”  I drew my conclusions and the next time she passed we were within speaking distance.  I asked if she was waiting for me to leave so she could go skinnydipping – she hesitated for a moment but then said yes, she was.  I told her that I wasn’t leaving because I was there for the eclipse and intended to do some skinnydipping myself.  I also told her not to worry because I was a card-carrying naturist.  She came forward and asked me to prove it. 

If any of you have ever doubted the value of belonging to your national naturist/nudist organization let me put forward this single encounter as the gold star reason to join up -- the ability to establish one's bona fides.  I showed her my FCN Card -- don't leave home without it.  “Huh,” she said, “So you are.  Hang on a moment and I’ll come up.”  And so she did, thereby providing me with pleasant company for the rest of the evening. 

Indeed I had two aims for last evening: observing and photographing the eclipse and a bit of moonlight skinnydipping.  As it happened the tide was mostly out when I arrived, thereby making it a fairly long sprint from the high tide mark to the low tide line.  But once everyone else had cleared off and their taillights had disappeared we doffed our kit above the high tide mark, trotted across the sand and frolicked in the surf for a short time.  The surf was running at about two feet with a fairly brisk onshore breeze and the water was warmer than it had been in July this year.  Still, given the air temperature, we didn’t linger once we got out of the water.  This wasn’t an endurance event after all, just one done for the principle of the thing:  "Life is short; Play naked."  Let me repeat that:

We quickly regained my astro camp, found that nobody new had arrived and shared out some the coffee and treats I had brought.  The moon was well up at this point and well short of the onset of the eclipse.  That made the sky so bright that it was distinctly blue to the naked eye, even though it shows as black in the photos.  Stars were difficult to see until a few hours later.  I took a few shots of the moon at different heights before the eclipse and some several minutes apart once the event began. 

When the eclipse reached the halfway point we decided to head for the surf again.  It was substantially nearer by this time so we stripped off where we were and went down the slope to the beach.  The surf, along with being nearer, was somewhat larger now, with some waves nearing three feet.  That’s a bit of a shocker when it hits below the belt and travels upward.  It didn’t take us long to get thoroughly wet, then scamper back up the hill for more coffee and cookies.  This time I lit a campfire in one of the firepits to provide some welcome warmth.  Then we settled in to a combination of Moon Watch and Bay Watch as the moon turned from butter to blood.

As the moon was steadily being eaten by the wolf the surrounding sky grew correspondingly darker and soon the stars were shining brilliantly.  The Milky Way was clearly visible and we laid back on a groundsheet with me pointing out the constellations and planets because I had my Sky and Telescope cheat-sheet and a planisphere with me.

Totality of the eclipse arrived at 11:47 with high tide close behind at 11:51 ADT – time for a third and final dip in the sea.  Of course this trip was shorter than the last, and so was the time spent in the water.  It was now time to pack up, drown the fire and head to our respective homes. 

Naturism in theory.  Naturism in action.  You meet the nicest people when you're naked.