A total lunar eclipse will occur overnight on Sunday (Sept. 7) into the early hours of Monday (Sept. 8), creating a striking red ‘blood moon’ for skywatchers across Asia, Western Australia, and Europe. Unfortunately, the Americas missed out on this one. I made the above image ten years ago (September 28, 2015).
The eclipse begins as the moon enters Earth’s penumbral shadow, causing a subtle shading effect. As it moves deeper into the umbra, a dark shadow will creep across the lunar surface until, during “totality,” it turns a reddish-orange hue. The exact shade of the blood moon depends on Earth’s atmospheric conditions at the time of the eclipse. Source: space.com
This old saguaro bends, arms too heavy for the trunk, two pressed down to the ground like crutches that keep it standing.
I know the feeling — knees gone, back stiff in the mornings, each step a small negotiation with the earth below.
They say the cactus has lived a hundred years, maybe two — having seen men die younger, and still it leans, still it finds a way to stay upright, though gravity has claimed every inch of it.
I used to think I could resist— work harder, drink less, walk farther, but the cactus tells me the truth: sooner or later, you bow down.
What matters is how long you keep your arms in the air, catching light, refusing to be silenced, before the earth pulls you all the way down.
