In the end, it never did snow all that much, maybe 3-4 inches. Chicago was hit much worse, and a plane even slid off the runway at O'Hare, though I don't believe anyone was seriously hurt. Before the weather got a lot worse, I turned right around and went to the gym and picked up some groceries on the way back. I may have mentioned before that I am very glad the gym is right at the mall, since I can usually force myself to go, even when it is nasty out, just so long as I can get two or more things done in one trip. I probably won't be able to lose significant weight until I get back into the biking full time, but I have probably stabilized for now.
I had been feeling proud of my productivity in such lousy weather, and actually finally set up the sewing machine again, but I also took a relatively long nap in the afternoon...
On Sunday morning, I had been kind of kicking myself for missing the lunar eclipse, though I was pretty sure it had been overcast. Then I was reading more about the super moon and realized that it was Sunday night into Monday morning, and I hadn't missed it after all.
Sunday afternoon, I left around 1 pm for a 2 pm matinee. The first couple of legs went reasonably well on transit, but the third leg was agonizingly slow. I ended up turning up with just 10 minutes to spare. Now this is a trip that only takes 20 minutes by bike! Of course, I certainly was not going to be on my bike in these conditions, but there really was no excuse for a streetcar to be going that slow.
I was at Canadian Stage to see 1979, which is Michael Healey's version of a history play, focusing on Joe Clark's decision to hold a vote on the budget, which ultimately led to his minority government falling and Pierre Trudeau coming back into power. After the first scene, Healey himself came out and said there was a problem with the lights and they were going to start the play all over again! Hard to imagine, but the actors were troupers and the play didn't suffer from the reset. While I do prefer Video Cabaret's much punchier and even more sarcastic take on Canadian politics, this was quite good, particularly the portrayal of Trudeau. The one false note is a really extended (and completely made up) discussion between a young Steven Harper (who didn't even come to Ottawa until 1985) and Joe Clark. I see where Healey was going with this, but it was too long and too unbelievable and frankly too didactic. If that had been cut back or simply cut out, I think the play would have been better.
I went straight back to the gym for a half workout and digging a bit deeper into the Iliad. At this point, I am halfway through both the Lattimore and Fitzgerald translations. While there are still a few places where I like Fitzgerald's poetry better, I'm still sticking with my preference for Lattimore. In terms of the work as a whole, I don't actually like it that much. There is far too much line for line repetition, as when Zeus tells his messenger to give a message and then it is repeated verbatim. But mostly it lionizes stupid pride and cements the idea that women are chattel to be won in war games. I have to say, not much has changed (on either front really), and 70% of Greeks are against regularizing their relationship with North Macedonia out of stupid nationalism (feeling that the Slavs are somehow going to steal their rights to Alexander the Great). It just reminds me again of how much I hate stupid people, or indeed most people frankly.
I really was not sure I wanted to go back out into the cold one more time, as I had a ticket for a concert at 8 pm. I finally forced myself, but it was touch and go. It was far too cold to just wait for the bus, so I walked to the subway station. I made it the entire way before I finally saw a bus, which is frankly pathetic (and certainly does not live up to the TTC's 10 minute service on this route). The concert was ok with the best piece being Claude Vivier's Orion, though all things considered I am not sure it justified being out in such miserable weather. I did run into a friend there, which was nice, so we chatted during intermission. Fortunately, transit back was much smoother.
To return to the lunar eclipse, I made it back home just after 10, about when it was starting. I took a look through the back door screen and saw that it was actually a fairly clear night (often rare in Toronto). You could just see a little bit of the bottom edge of the moon fuzzing out a bit (though it was hard to see much, given how bright it was). I called my son down to take a look, and it was a bit more impressive at that point, with maybe 10-15% covered. I did try to take a photo, but I do not have the right equipment at all. (The eclipse was much more impressive by this point.)
I was doing some other work and checked in after 40 or so minutes and it was half covered, which was cool. At some point I looked again, and instead of being completely gone, it was sort of a dusky colour. Here's a bit of a primer on what was actually going on. I suspect there are sites that actually have better photos and videos of the eclipse, but I had my fill.
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