Thursday, August 6, 2009

Eclipsed


Corcoran Street between 15th and 16th NW.

My head is swirling with last night's dreams, nightmares, and from the ghostly comings and goings from my room. Whew! What a night. When I woke up this morning, the clock indicated that I'd slept eight hours, but the night was much much longer. I traveled, too, far and wide, within and outside of my dreams, with and without the ghosts. The blanket and sheets were completely untucked this morning, the pillows were everywhere, and my hair was more than dishevelled. I looked like I'd stuck my finger in the electrical socket. Felt like it, too. I crawled into the shower, exhausted.

It's true that the final eclipse occurred last night at 20:55 EDT. It was still August 5th here on the east coast of the U.S. though it occured on the 6th in other places on the planet.

Time zones and especially the International Date Line completely confuse me. I get jet lag just thinking about the fact that when I read blogs written in Australia, I'm reading tomorrow's blogs while meanwhile when they read mine, even if they tune in five minutes after I post, they are looking back in time at yesterday's post. Freaky.

Whenever I get on an airplane, I think about how, once in the air, there is no time; in flight I am neither in the time zone of departure nor the time zone of arrival. I never know if I should leave my watch set to the old time or switch it right away to the new time. Perhaps I should leave my watch at home.

Astronauts, while in orbit, live in a place even farther removed from the 24 hour clock. In fact they also live outside of seasonal time, beyond the solar calendar. Even if they look at the earth and notice whether the north or south pole is leaning in towards the sun, they are not a part of either summer or winter. They can observe both, at the same time. January? August? March? Just words to astronauts in orbit, nothing more. Wow. Out in space, the only conceivable time is stellar time, which is so huge compared to you and me that it can not be perceived, only imagined, and even that is a stretch.

Being "on time" is always important to me. Some days, though, I realize just how subjective that idea is, how silly, actually. Especially after a long night of craziness like last night. Oh yeah.


Franklin Square.

29 comments:

ellen abbott said...

'Stellar time', I love that.

I've been having very weird? intense? weird and intense dreams myself lately.

lacochran said...

That's what a good happy hour will do to you. ;)

And I'd like to think it's not the "final" eclipse.

Cynthia Pittmann said...

Reya, I didn't see the eclipse but I noticed how the moon was so defined last night around eight pm. I slept solidly...even going back to sleep after waking up from morning noises. But how unusual for me to sleep until 10am because I am the first to awaken everyday. Yesterday, was a day of intense anxiety,too. I could blame it on the full moon? Oh no, that's right...on the eclipse. Who knows? You wrote so vividly that I still have a picture image in my mind of you after a restless night's sleep! <3

Reya Mellicker said...

Lacochran - no happy hour for me last night after all. I watched TV for awhile, then switched on James Brown and danced around my room before bed.

Too much JB might have brought on allt he dreams, but I always prefer to blame the planets whenever possible.

Reya Mellicker said...

"final" eclipse of the triple eclipse season, yes. Not the last eclipse ever. At least I hope not!

Elizabeth said...

The moon was especially stunning and large and a little spooky last night.
I noticed it particularly when taking the emperor out for his last walk of the night.

Harnett-Hargrove said...

Nice post. I do love theh confusion of time and space. Ever realize that what we air travel with the sun the lag is much less than against?
-Jayne

Peaches said...

I love your reflection on “time.”
I must say that I live mostly in now-time...which some people might call space-time.

Cheryl Cato said...

I hate to admit that I slept more than 8 hours last night. I awoke at 7:30 this morning to the smell of coffee already made. I did have dreams, weird ones, but not tiring ones. Half the time I don't even know what day it is much less what time... retirement is great.

On another note, I love Jake's photo on the side bar. He is so beautiful; I'm glad you posted it.

glnroz said...

i think we are being bombarded with too much "crap". We dont have time for simple thoughts and understanding..(that's me,,definately not analyzing others, lol)

Tessa said...

Oooh, that picture of Jake. Immediately I saw it I smiled and said 'hello, boy!' Then I thought, oh dear, it should make me cry...but, see, the reverse happened. I hope that's good...is it, Reya? I think it is...

Oh thank god that is the end of the eclipse season. I, too, have been having the most exhausting dreams. Nothing that has made an iota of sense either. Very perplexing...and a bit horrid really. I haven't actually seen the moon for ages now - cloud cover every night...urgh. I need to go on a journey to find the moon...and the sun before I go completely potty!

Dan Gurney said...

In the summer months I usually leave my watch off.

As a kindergarten teacher, a lot of the curriculum I'm supposed to teach is about time. You know, calendars, clocks, and tomorrow and yesterday.

I often feel I'm indoctrinating them to become alienated from their already healthy and wholesome orientation to time.

Years later, as maladjusted adults, they'll go on spiritual retreats and unlearn what was taught in kindergarten about time.

They'll rediscover that there is only one time: the present.

steven said...

hey reya, time and the moon. everything's present. but then i think about days that fly by and days that last forever and how is that? it's something to do with the value of the moment. or maybe the quality of the moment. string a whole bunch together and you have a deep long day.
sitting in a spacecraft flying around our planet. it must be awesome . .. i have no idea how they do anything there. i'd be at the window with my camera the whole time.
have a peaceful day unravelling your hair and dreams and comings and goings. it's all so like untangling a knot!!
steven

Hammer said...

A perfect setup for one of my favorite Northern Exposure scenes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRKR3g9P3fI

And yeah, I'm a little discombobulated myself this morning. Time got all extra wonky last night and I still feel a lingering sense of displacement.

Nancy said...

Last night was restless here, too. What a month.

Anonymous said...

Reya,

This reminds me of a quote, from whom I don't recall: "The trouble with being punctual is that nobody is there to appreciate it."

Ronda Laveen said...

The construct of time has always boggled my mind. And the fact that my work is plotted out in segments of something that doesn't really exist makes me feel so compartmentalized.

I worked on my astrologer yesterday. She was pretty worn out from all the sessions her clients scheduled with her before the eclipse. There is a lot going on here,so unusual with the three eclipses in two months.

Hammers clip was funny. Your new banner is beautifully bittersweet. The waterdrops look like fallen tears and the flowers honoring.

Unknown said...

Great thoughts on time--I've had that experience in planes, too, & your thoughts about the relativity of sleep time are quite cool.

IntangibleArts said...

...offhand I'd say it's better to be IN time than ON time.

Reya Mellicker said...

And what about time/space? Holy cow!

Tom said...

...and speaking of outragious time zones: If today we received a communication from another world, by the time we got the message and sent one back, that civilization might very well have gone extinct! Certainly if we attempted to reach the other civilization, everyone involved would have probably forgotten the reason for going anyway. And i get confused just going over one time zone!

The Bug said...

I remember when I spent time in Zambia how complicated it was to call my family in NC. What usually happened is that I got up super early. It was really disorienting to talk to people that I usually lived with & realize that we were not in the same space at all - I was even on the other side of the equator from them!

On dreams - I dream every night & remember most of them in the morning. I'm always so active - it's no wonder I feel sleepy during the day.

P.S. A picture of your hair when you woke up would have been so much fun - for us anyway!

Reya Mellicker said...

A pic of my hair this morning would have inspired nightmares - trust me, it's better left to the imagination!

Bee said...

As I was reading this, I realized how rarely I notice the moon in England. Cool, cloudy skies at night here, and we tend to stay indoors after dark.

As for time zones, my brother is in Afghanistan at the moment and there is a 6 1/2 hour time difference. For some reason, that half hour cracks me up.

When I was on my own blog, (a while back now, counting dinner and various phone calls and reading through your last two weeks' of posts), I realized that you had been there at the same time! Cool!! I wonder where you are now . . .?

Chris Wolf said...

Further along the astronaut line-I sometimes contemplate that not only can God see our planet from above, but s/he sees all of it. Not just the side that I could see if I was in outer space, but the whole marble. No wonder s/he doesn't give a rip about our sense of time or timing.

California Girl said...

I place all this emphasis on my dreams and try to tell them to my husband who says they're just dreams and doesn't see anything particularly interesting in them at all even when there is. After reading this post, should I be looking at some of them as time travel? It might explain some. It might not.I believe they have meaning but do not know what to look for.

Reya Mellicker said...

One thing I was thinking about during the eclipse season is that, to Brother Sun, the moon is always full.

Love twisting my brain like that.

California Girl, you really should look into all the millions of methods of dream interp out there. They are rich in symbolism and fabulously creative, while also completely personal. My sisters and I regularly interpret each other's dreams. It's fun, and free, and often very interesting.

Barbara Martin said...

I, too, had wierd nightmares last night, but I attribute them more to a new association I have just severed. I must listen to my angels more closely from now on when they warn me about Pied Pipers.

Eclipses occur about every six months in pairs to get us out of our ruts to grow: mine is to work on my partnerships. Reya, your forecast looks good for the future so you can happily anticipate good things...

Mrsupole said...

The moon was beautiful but strange at the same time last night.

I really like what you said about the astronauts and how time is different for them up there. I really doubt that many of us have even thought about how time is for them. And I like how you put that they can see winter and summer at the same time. They are always seeing two seasons at once. Very interesting.

I am sorry that you had a rough night with your dreams. I hope that your next few nights are more peaceful and happy. And I know what you mean about the hair and the bedsheets being torn all up on the bed. I seem to do that when I am in a lot of physical pain, which for the last few years has been a lot. I am hoping that when I totally recover from this surgery that I have a lot less problems with sleeping. Sleep is hard to come by when you are in pain.

May your days be wonderful and your nights be full of peace.

God bless.