Something was strange about the moon.
Not able to sleep, I pulled from the sleeping bag and used a small red light to walk from the long dark tent into the Baghdad night. Inside had been dark, but outside the moon was so strangely bright that I crept quietly back into the tent, aisles flanked by sleeping bodies, and felt through my gear for the camera before creeping back outside.
The moon, so bright and sharp, draped crisp penumbra-less shadows from the tent ropes, casting sharp stripes across the gravel. As the moon followed its natural path into umbra, the fact that a complete lunar eclipse would unfold in mere hours had escaped my attention.
Helicopters roared through the midnight, low overhead, most burned no visible lights. As the helicopters disappeared and Saturday drifted into Sunday, I stood alone in the moonlight watching the tents under the stars, and photographing the various light sources mixing and flowing together.
Michael Yon [RBees he's on FOX now w00t!]
|