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Lunar Eclipse
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The Lunar Eclipse came as a suprise to Tom and I who had gotten used to the same routine for the last few weeks on Ofu. We would wake up, watch the CNN news, which covered a group of miners being trapped in Utah for at least 9 days, followed by which celebrity was in jail for what on TV over breakfast, work on the suite, which we painted (inside and out), sanded, varnished, stuckoed and the like all of which sound like they don't take too long but end up taking at least a day more than you expect:)
Then we would take a swim/ snorkel/ beer break and start on dinner, making sure to keep an eye on the sunset while we sweated through a roast and potatoes (our usual grub, with gravy of course)
The Saturday before the Eclipse was the first time anyone had stayed in the suite and Tom and I had worked extra hard to finish it the week prior. Our heads ached from the varnish fumes, our necks were sore from looking up at the ceiling while painting but we were proud of what we were able to have done for the Lodge and it felt good to see the project completed, or mostly as everything can use a few touch ups here and there always.
The moon was becoming fuller and fuller and one of the nights that weekend it was so bright I could see Tom's pupils and the shadows of fish in the ocean. Tony, one of the workers who was dredging the Ofu harbor, kept saying the moon will be full very soon.
And I realized that Tom and I had been watching the stars and the moon for an entire lunar cycle, I was so happy to have been mesmerized by the wonders of the universe, instead of the tv or city lights, it was such a wonderful thing to be able to experience and having the Eclipse on its way was perfect!
So anyways back to the day of the Eclipse, we had been taking it easy on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and did some odds and ends around the new unit, as well as some screen work during the day. In the afternoon we were off snorkeling in the national park and swimming in the prisitine aqua blue that surround the entire island. Landon, a fellow traveler had arrived on Monday, and Jim was touring him around, so we got to ride with them too, getting to jump off the bridge between Olesaga and Ofu, more like a foot bridge, nothing spectacular but a good 25 foot jump. Jim said just after I jumped that sharks swim through the deep channel and once they were joking with a girl saying "If you dont jump now you are going to jump on a shark." Low and behold two seconds later a big black tip swam through, so it was a fearful feet though just a small one.
We watched the sun descend and worked on dinner. After clean up the clouds began to come with a vicious breeze, we played some cards, waiting for the beginning of the shadow on the moon, praying that the sky would clear up for a good view. We went out at the beginning of the eclipse and were able to watch for about an hour until the clouds rolled in and it began to pour. It rained for about half the cover up of the moon and then cleared completely to reveal a red eyed moon and a sky of brilliant stars.
The night of the full moon and we were able to see the milky way just as clear as if the moon was not at the top of the sky. We walked to the beach and layed there staring up at the wonder of the shadow of earth. I have seen eclipses before but not anywhere near as grand and surreal. We stumbled to bed around 2am not able to watch the complete return of the full moon but satisfied!
I awoke around 6am to the sound of stomping and clinking outside our room, my eyes were bloodshot and my head was pounding. 2am was by far the latest we had stayed up on this little island and I had yet to be awake a 6am. 1/2 hr later, stomp stomp stomp on our roof. Damn, the boys that were working on our roof had arrived to suprise Marge and the rest of us. They needed to get it done and if they showed Marge wasnt going to complain but Tom and I sure wanted to.
We woke up groggy, threw on some clothes and heard a knock on the door, Ben a fellow family member of the Vaoto Lodge called in "Sorry to be the one to tell you this guys but they are going to be doing your roof today." AAAAAAAAAAARG no really.
But we laughed at the irony and walked down for some coffee. Roofers and all the Eclipse of the Moon was well worth it.
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