Sunset bonus

Nick and Val helped make it a great Christmas by giving us a sunset dinner cruise. We managed to schedule it on what turned out to be the best day ever. We had virtually no wind, a clear sky with pleasant temperatures, lots of dolphins surfacing along the way, and live entertainment on board. Coupling that with freshly brazed Gulf shrimp as an appetizer and fajitas with a choice of beef, chicken and freshly grilled Mahi. I for one had all 3!

While being a bit misty cloudy at the horizon, the sunset was very pleasant and warmed out heart, especially seeing it from the waters of Laguna Madre with no obstacles in the way whatsoever. As the sun set, we got serenaded with some of the most spectacular colors of any sunset we had witnessed in the last two months of nightly sunsets. It was glorious!

The first bonus was the Super Moon. When the moon is full as it passed the earth at its closest point in its elliptical orbit, it appears to be upwards of 20% larger than usual. Well, it happened tonight and it was spectacular! In addition, when there are two full moons in a month, it’s called a Blue Moon, and that only happens about every 3 years. We had a full moon on January 1, and again the evening of January 30, so we got a Super Moon and a Blue Moon. 

But it even got more special if that’s possible. In the early hours of January 31, there was a total Lunar Eclipse that was visible from our party deck. Because there can be an orangish tinge to the moon during a lunar eclipse, it’s referred to as a Blood Moon. The combination of a Full Moon, a Blue Moon and a Blood Moon is very rare. No human alive on the earth right now has ever seen one until just now. The last time the trifecta occurred was in 1868. Bonus number 3!

Talk to you soon!