Monday, August 26, 2013

When Pictures Speak Wrong 1,000 Words

Several nights ago I was unfortunate enough to wake up around 4:30 am, moonlight shining brightly through the window by my bed. As my bleary eyes squinted at it I saw a jumble of what looked like 4  blurry, bright objects overlapping. Somehow, my sleep filled brain reached the conclusion that I needed to take a picture of this phenomenon because there must be some heavenly body shining near the moon, nearly as brightly, and how often to you see that!

So I rolled out of bed, grabbed my camera, and somehow managed to get several “clear shots”. For those who don’t wear glasses, this was no small feat, especially considering I was still half asleep.  Then I put the camera up, and went back to sleep, with pics to prove it happened….yeah.... Next day I was quite excited to tell my Dad and sister I had seen “two moons” in the wee morning hours. (Dad started humming Star Wars). However, I grew concerned when I realized I was the only one who had witnessed this. There were no pictures on the internet.
Confused and feeling like I dope, I was wise enough to quietly share this tale with the physics grad student (aka Leila) to see if she had an idea. Thankfully, after seeing my photos she was able to explain it was the reflection through the window, (something Joey basically said in 2 seconds said a day later when I showed him a picture) and admitted she’d been tripped up the first time she’d noticed something similar through a screen door.

Must admit, I felt kinda stupid, and rather disappointed, but I was glad to have discovered my mistake BEFORE I made myself into a complete idiot. 

Moral of the story, sleepiness, and blurry eyes can convince the brain of almost anything; even hours later when you’re more “awake” and “rational”.


On a different note, can I just say, every time I see how I reformatted this blog I get excited. Like a kid with a new toy, I can’t quite believe it’s mine.  Then again, as I can convince myself I’ve seen two “moons” I’m sure the disbelief will be short lived. 

Anyway, that's my story, and pathetic as it may be, I'm sticking to it. A picture does indeed speak a 1.000 words, however, in this case they were the wrong ones. I guess our eyes aren't infallible witnesses or the ultimate proof we tend to make them after all. 

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