In between

Somehow after 36 hours of continuous rains the clouds parted for us this afternoon to reveal the transit of Venus--that is, Venus passing in front of the sun. The viewing glasses that were on hand for last month's annular solar eclipse worked just as well for checking out this subtle yet remarkable celestial event.

The transit of Venus happens very rarely, occurring in modern times in a pattern of 105 years, 8 years, 121 years, 8 years. Given that the last one occurred in 2004, we (or rather, mankind) won't be observing this phenomenon again until 2117.

Dan (who studied physics and astronomy in college) has been going on and on about this for the last several weeks, and honestly I couldn't have cared less about making an effort to watch it. Yet when I saw the sparkle of wonderment in his eyes when he asked if I wanted to see it, and then handed over the viewing glasses, I felt compelled to drop the scallions I was trimming and go see for myself. In a way I didn't anticipate I was really taken by the sight. Seeing something like this makes you feel at once very tiny, and yet very whole, sort of one with the universe.

And to think without the proper coaxing I would have never noticed....