Friday will bring a lunar eclipse, and the full Moon will spill into my birthday on Saturday.

I can feel it already.

Having been asked how one could sense the latter--quite possibly with the accusation of religious obscurantism in mind--I simply responded, "If you could feel it, you'd know."

My excuse? My own people, Russians, are some of the most superstitious people I've encountered.

I won't return home even if I've forgotten something of value, and I make everyone sit down for good luck before departing on a trip.

Speaking of which, I plan to spend the next few days overseas, meaning that my blog updates will be dictated by internet access and scheduling availability.

In the meantime, I leave you with a sequence, taken on our evening dog walk, featuring a rather bloody, rusted sunset and my almost-birthday Moon: