So Erika and I took a little trip to try to see the ballyhooed supermoon eclipse from what we imagined would be an ideal vantage point. This involved stops at Royal Oak Station, 22nd Street, and New West, and much hopeful peering from platforms and such. No moon was visible, eclipsed, super-, or otherwise. There was a treat during one point, as we ducked around some trees at Royal Oak, hoping to get a better view of the night sky, and discovered that there were three little bats doing their thing, eating some of the station's plentiful insect life, flying in their crazy erratic patterns, clearly visible against the evening sky. They're the first bats I've seen on the mainland in something like ten years, since bat populations started crashing across North America. I've heard of bats - from the late Todd Serious, actually - remaining in Lilooet, and I've seen them myself over lakes on Vancouver Island, but bats are seriously scarce around Vancouver and Maple Ridge these days. It was really wonderful to see that there are still a few of them in Burnaby, and totally made up for the lack of moon action.
However: the irony of our trip was, after leaving the apartment and spending an hour trying to find any view of the moon at all, and finally admitting defeat and turning back, grumbling about feeling ripped off, as we rounded the corner to our apartment, there the moon was, huge, orange, and partially eclipsed, viewable over the schoolyard immediately adjacent to us. We didn't have to travel to see the moon at all. In fact, there's been a quite decent view from the dining room window all the while. We would have had a better show if we'd just stayed home.
Go figure...
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