Sometimes you get the photo.  Sometimes you don’t.  This was the best I could manage of the spectacular lunar eclipse this morning.

Despair is my companion at these moments. I struggle to reach something and I fail.  Piling despair on despair, I had left my tripod at a shoot.  There was no way I was capturing a shot as tricky as this free hand. 

Warm cap pulled over his head and wool jacket over thick shirt, Kevin, my husband, jimmied his survey equipment into a tripod for me. He cupped hot coffee in cold hands and watched the moon disappear into darkness as I struggled for the right shot.  I was even able to persuade him to try a few. 

We stood shoulder to shoulder watching the moon become a shadow as the last bright sliver slid behind the Humboldt hills.

There’s not a better cure for despair than a warm shoulder and sky full of beauty.