{Guest Post written by Michelle Villarreal Leschper}
The last lunar eclipse I saw was many moons ago, but I vividly remember the excitement leading up to it, the chill of the night, the warm cup of hot cocoa in my hands, and laughing with my sisters.
I have no recollection how old my two younger sisters and I were, but we were definitely old enough to climb a ladder to the patio roof in the middle of the night.
We had watched the local news earlier in the evening and my dad noted the best time to get on the roof and watch the lunar eclipse from our backyard. He gave us the option to go to bed and he would wake us up so we wouldn’t miss it, or we could stay awake and count down the minutes. What kid wouldn’t choose the latter? But there may or may not have been some uncontrollable nodding off throughout the evening.
The minutes and hours dragged into the night, but it was finally time for our outdoor watch party. We bundled up in warm clothes and my mom brought out extra blankets, just in case the extra layers weren’t enough.
The ladder was already propped against the porch when we finally went outside and my dad helped each one of us climb to the top where I could see the entire neighborhood, at least it felt that way. We weren’t the type of kids who climbed on the roof and tried to jump off, mainly because we knew we would get in trouble, so that made this night even more special.
Each one of us tiptoed across the porch roof and slowly climbed the house shingles to find the perfect viewing spot. Once we were huddled and cozy with our blankets and gloves, my dad went back for the hot chocolate and handed each of us a small, warm cup that I held close to my chest.
My fuzzy memory can’t recall actually seeing the lunar eclipse or how long we stayed up there, but I’ll never forget how something more than 220,000 miles away brought us so close together and created a lasting memory.
I plan to do the same this time with my husband and two girls, and I encourage you and your family to find a way to make the moon-watching evening special together. You don’t need a high-tech telescope or binoculars. You don’t even need to know exact locations and directions. The only thing you need for a lasting memory is each other… but the warm blankets and hot chocolate will be much appreciated.
If you are interested in what to expect Sunday night, here’s a lunar eclipse timeline specifically for the Corpus Christi area.
