Having missed the lunar eclipse two weeks ago due to the snowfall (still not completely cleared), I managed to see the partially eclipsed sun rising this morning as I drove to Tienen (where U now spends two days a week). In fact it was pretty difficult to miss, directly in front of me along the line of the motorway, huge and crescent; it would have been terrifying to people in prehistoric cultures who might see such a sight once or twice in a lifetime. No wonder that the ancient Babylonians buckled down to eclipse prediction as soon as they could.