I used to pretty much hate football. We never watched a game or rooted for a team when I was growing up. We usually planned Sundays around our horses instead of football. The times I did go to high school football games had absolutely nothing to do with the game. When I married a Chiefs fan, I gave football fandom a try—I went to a couple Chiefs games with him, but ultimately decided the ticket was definitely wasted on me-of-so-little-appreciation-and-understanding. It wasn’t until my son Aaron started playing that I became more interested, and he was interested in teaching me about football! We watched NFL Network together, watched games, and he would quiz me on players and positions. Truth be told, I never was very good at it, but it was fun and something special we did together.
There is excitement in the air with Minnesota hosting the Super Bowl and with Superstar Tom Brady coming back to the state where he visited his grandparents as a child. It’s a big deal for the Twin Cities! But I have to agree with Tony Dungy, former University of Minnesota quarterback, Super Bowl winner as a Pittsburgh Steeler, and Super Bowl champion coach of the Indianapolis Colts:
“As big a deal as the Super Bowl is, it’s not the most important thing going on in the planet.”
So very true. A much bigger deal to me was Wednesday morning’s Super Blue Blood Moon. It was forecast to be poor viewing for us due to cloud cover, and when I got up at 3:30 am to check, the moon was veiled in clouds. Disappointed, I went back to sleep. But Chris woke me before 6:00 with good news that the clouds had moved out and the eclipse had begun! I pulled on lots of warm clothes, as the front that had cleared the clouds also dropped the temperature and whipped up the wind to create a finger-numbing windchill. But it was all worth it! How beautiful!
The Super part of the lunar trifecta was the larger, brighter moon due to being closer to the Earth in its elliptical orbit.
The Blue part is because it was the second full moon in the month of January—two full moons in one month doesn’t happen that often—as in ‘once in a blue moon.’
Our western sky is mostly blocked by trees, but I was able to find some spots between branches for the close-ups. From our hillside vantage point, the moon and lights of our little town made a pretty pre-dawn picture.
My freezing fingers necessitated running back to the house for warm-ups as the shadow of the Earth passing between the moon and sun slid over the lunar surface.
The Blood part of the trifecta was because of the total eclipse. As the shadow envelopes the moon, the sunlight makes its way through the Earth’s atmosphere where dust and other particles filter out the blue-colored light and indirectly shines on the darkened moon, making the moon appear red.
The last time this rare triple wonder happened in the Western Hemisphere was 152 years ago! Prediction for the next Super Blue Blood moon is in 2037—many Super Bowls from now.
As the Super Blue Blood moon sank to the western horizon amid the tree branches, the eastern sky began to lighten. What a great beginning to a Super day!
Due to the moon’s setting and the light of day, I was unable to see the moon come out of its eclipse, but what an awesome feeling to witness such a rare and beautiful celestial spectacle! Because of Aaron, I now consider myself a semi-fan of football—he and I still talk about the Chiefs, we still watch an occasional game together when he’s home, and I can appreciate a pinpoint pass by a superstar quarterback. I will watch the Super Bowl on TV as the big deal goes on just 80 miles from us. But it’s not the most important thing going on in the planet. Our Earth, its atmosphere, all of Nature and us as stewards, how we treat and care for one another, how we care for ourselves, sharing time and love with people who delight in our presence—these are the important things.