Similitudes

Watching a lunar eclipse is like many things. It is like reading Hamlet and understanding every word, every cadence. It is like having a candlelit dinner at home. It is like watching your favorite movie. But even more suggestive is what a lunar eclipse is not like. It is not like a total solar eclipse, with its massive emotional buildup, brief exultation at totality, then a partial letdown after. An eclipse of the Moon is more like a two-hour long massage, pure relaxation followed by joy at the event's having taken place over your head. So long as the weather is clear, you really can't go wrong with a lunar eclipse.

In the spring of 1997, as Wendee and I were preparing for our March 15 wedding, we faced the problem of our on-campus ceremony being marred or postponed by crowds attending a basketball NCAA playoff game. We telephoned Mike Terenzoni at the Flandrau Science Center, the place we had chosen for our nuptials. “What about changing it to one week later, March 23?” we asked. “Not then,” his answer came. That's Hale–Bopp.”

I considered the impact of having a wedding on a night near closest approach to the Earth of the great comet of 1997. “Actually,” I explained, “Hale–Bopp will be bright for so long that it really doesn't matter.” But Michael was already looking at his calendar. “And,” he added, “there's a lunar eclipse that night.