Green Doritos in the Moon

I watched the lunar eclipse this morning. After four hours of sleep, I slept-walked to the park with a roommate and a friend. Upon arrival, we discovered that the sprinklers had beat us there, so spreading out on the grass was not an option. Unless, of course, you had a great desire for hypothermia or more likely, as Friend argued, frostbite. Instead, we set up the telescope, chair and blankets on the sidewalk that cuts down the middle. I selfishly kept all four blankets to make me a little bed and promptly cuddled under my own blanket to enjoy the moon in phases--whenever I could convince my eyes to open--and to listen in on Roommate and Friend's conversation, chipping in whenever I found the energy to think of something to say.

You know the moment, an hour or so after you wake up, when something triggers a memory of a dream you had... you can remember bits and pieces, you can remember that it once made sense and you can remember how you felt... but you can't remember the details that made it such? I had such a moment, but with real life in my semi-conscious state. Friend and Roommate were discussing the color of the moon due to the refraction of the sun's light around the earth. Somehow, I believed they were discussing this topic, using it as symbology for the gospel. I distinctly remember the comparison between all of this and Satan, God and Christ. I remember thinking how insightful they were and how it all made sense. I love analogies and symbology. Roommate is very good at them, so it didn't surprise me at all that they were discussing it. Then I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up later to move to a better place to view the moon, they started asking what conversations I was awake for. Turns out that they did, in fact, discuss the refraction of light, but they had not compared it to the gospel at all. All of that was in my own head. I remember the vague topic; I remember that I was impressed and that it made perfect sense. I do not remember how they tied together. Perhaps when I'm more awake I'll actually think about it and receive that inspiration yet again.

My favorite part of the eclipse was when the sunlight started hitting the moon. It was so bright and beautiful. It was such a stark contrast to the hazy, reddish light that we had been watching for half an hour. Roommate described it beautifully when she said, "It looks like someone's pulling the top off a pudding pop!" I had to gently remind her that the moon is made out of cheese--not pudding. (It is too! Just ask Wallace and Gromit.)

I finally left an hour and a half after I first left my house, with twenty minutes to walk home, get ready for the day (I was still in my pjs), and leave for work. I didn't even get to finish the eclipse. Miraculously, I made it. I'm a little groggy today, but a sweet little angel brought me all sorts of delicious snacks that have kept me awake enough to function. Bless her. Oh, and I was able to sleep on the bus again. :)

What is it about the lights in the heavens that make this all worth it?