When I launched this blog, I uploaded a photo I took of the total lunar eclipse from April of 2014. That eclipse image has played a significant influence in shaping my thoughts and ideas for the book Shadow and Light. So with another spectacular lunar eclipse taking place last night, you can guess what I was doing.

I took a lot of pictures of all different stages of the eclipse, including some gorgeous ones of clouds passing in front of the moon. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring. I’ve got a bunch of pictures I’ll put up on Facebook, and I’ll share a couple of the best-of-the-best here.

What made last night’s eclipse was the contrast of shadow and light. The moon is just a big rock floating around our planet. It gets illuminated by our sun, and every twenty-eight days, we see that full illuminated face light up our night sky. Except once in a rare while, when the shadow of our own earth comes between us and the moon and creates a stunning spectacle.

Our lives are full of shadows and light. They create the beauty that surrounds us, the complexity of our world. They create the plots of the stories we love. They fill us with questions and hopes. This is our world, even without the magic of fiction. It’s amazing.