Once in a Lifetime: A Total Solar Eclipse

The total solar eclipse hasn't occurred like this, moving across the United States from West to East for 99 years. Not since 1979, a year before I was born, was the total solar eclipse visible from the mainland of the United States. If you're not a solar eclipse chaser and you stay in one place, you will only see one every 3 to 400 years in that spot. What a special thing to unite us. It is interesting how one natural event means so many different things to different people, both scientifically and spiritually. I wasn't expecting to be very moved, but once I decided I really didn't want to miss it and then noted we were late on the uptake for solar eclipse glasses, I resigned myself to the fact we would likely miss the only solar eclipse here in Arvada in any of our lifetimes. I called and asked around for glasses, but no dice. My mom was worried she would lose her eyesight if she looked because she was in elementary school when the last one occurred in New York and she remembered they hammered the concept In that you absolutely couldn't look at an eclipse ever or you'd go blind. She came out anyway to the park behind our local Mikeljohn elementary school where the whole school was outside with their handmade eclipse viewers made of cereal boxes and tape and cardstock, and tinfoil, excitedly awaiting the 11:47 time when the moon would nearly fully eclipse the sun. Mom had a peek through our eclipse glasses and called her friends in California. She learned their rooster was crowing out of turn. Dad had a hard time seeing anything as the boys swarmed all over him while he tried to adjust the paper solar glasses over his everyday glasses. Meanwhile, in Greeley viewers reported the sky got dark, the birds stopped chirping and the crickets took their place for a moment as the temperature cooled ten to fifteen degrees in places. Some reported they saw birds fly into the trees to roost and when the sun came out again, the birds flew off, confused. At 11:08 (a little last minute...ok so we aren't regular astronomers or celestial followers) we tried to follow a YouTube video on making a pinhole eclipse viewer, and I think we put the hole in the wrong piece of tin foil. I tried putting my phone in selfie mode and still only saw a burning round sun. Watching us, a woman who was picnicking with her family in the park, came over and brought us glasses, saying she could see we needed some. Kindness among humans can be so overwhelming, particularly when spontaneous. The anticipatory excitement permeated the group of families and school children in the field. Witnessing such a rare natural event certainly made me feel small as the light changed eerily for a moment while the planets continued to spin with their moons rotating around, all worshiping the sun. We watched as the sun, for once, became a delicate crescent shape, and the moon shaded us all in a complete role reversal. Grayson said it looked like a mouse took a giant bite out of the sun. I found the crisp edges of the changing shape of the sun In a sea of black, mesmerizing. We all tried to take a turn with the glasses for the approximate half hour that the sun and moon did their little dance. In between gazing up at the sky with the hundreds camped out in the field, we listened to Live broadcasts from NASA scientists getting choked up, pilots sending in video footage from their cockpits, and reflections from Wyoming where the total eclipse was to occur. We read comments from across Colorado and the United States, people expressing their awe and some disappointment at what they saw, and many felt, as they all looked in the same direction together, they were part of something bigger. For me, it was special to see all walks of humanity, so often divided, looking up in the same direction. It was neat to see school children excited, many for the first time, about the universe and its many possibilities. Danny messaged me from work where they had distributed solar eclipse glasses and were outside taking a group photo together. I pointed out to him that once you realize just how small you are in the universe, it feels like a miracle that we ever found each other to share this beautiful life on planet Earth. Grayson saw some workers melting tar into the cracks in the street and noticed they didn't have glasses. We asked if they'd seen the eclipse, and one man said no way, they didn't have time for that. Grayson handed him our borrowed glasses and all six workers took a break to take a look. They certainly weren't prone to hyperbole, but they all had a hard time looking away. Such a basic concept, the moon crossing between us and the sun, but so special to be part of something bigger, humanity coming together and all looking in the same direction. Many children here in Arvada, including our 4 year old, saw for the very first time today a bright shining sliver in the universe and began to see their place in it. I don't want it to be over, the feelings of unity, smallness, and awe. Fortunately, Spotify has a Total Eclipse mix to help re-live it, since we only had one shot. And yes, of course Adele is featured.

#nature #solareclipse