Amarh Noos

Saturday 10th December, any reason for it being a special day? Possibly many reasons for individuals across the planet, a birthday or an anniversary.....

100 years ago in 1911 - Calbraith Rogers completes the first crossing of the US by airplane in 84 days...
2011 - 13 days until Christmas Day...OR the 2nd Lunar Eclipse this year. A lunar eclipse is when 'The full moon is completely consumed by the Earth's shadow'

I have become conditioned to celebrating the full moon here in Luxor, I am particularly lucky to live less than one minute from the River Nile, with a direct view to Luxor Temple.
Every month the Moon rises majestically, to the north of Luxor Temple, larger than life, illuminating the Nile, the 'Source of life' for Egypt. The sheer size and speed that it rises above the City, makes even the locals gasp, take out their mobile phones and snap the wondrous sight.

I was very aware that it was a Lunar Eclipse this evening, but here in Luxor, we would not enjoy the previous 'Total Lunar Eclipse' we had in June. Only certain places in the World would be able to see it. Here, we would see a partial eclipse. Tonight, I experienced a different perspective on a full moon rising here.

A friend invited me to go to an area called 'Masra' close to a village called El Tod, which sits in the shadows of the East Bank, Thebe Mountains. It's about, 20 minutes by car from Luxor (Our driver was in a hurry and I squealed at some points, of 4 cars passing in the road at the same point!) No matter, we safely arrived to the desert plains.

Silence and solitude greeted us as we embarked upon our short walk to the perfect viewpoint. The sun was setting, casting light onto the stones that marked our golden path......Breathtaking and panoramic views from the Esna lock to the Valley of the Kings. The light began to fade, shadows throwing out their cloaks, a different World was appearing.

The sun dropped and we waited for the moon to rise. In the distance we saw a group of local people that had also come to the desert to experience this special moment. We waited and we waited...Where was the moon? The atmosphere became more eery, breathtaking and thought provoking......'There' someone announced. 'I see it'

As we descended and the afterglow of the sun settled for the evening, the wild dogs were heard howling in the distance. I glanced back to the slopes of the hills, looking towards the after burn of the sunset. The silhouette of the dogs looked eery, artistic, but mainly assured me that they were there to protect us...

Later, take a moment to look through your window, pop out to you garden, roof, terrace or street. Look up to the evening sky and see if you can see the 'Rabbit' in the moon...he is there...:-)

Space Observers