Eclipsing
This past Monday marked a pretty significant event; as most of the contiguous United States were able to witness a total solar eclipse. I read a few articles in which the experience was being referred to as the “Great American Eclipse” and had the media talking about it for weeks. I kept telling myself to read up on the event, but it always fell to the bottom of my to-do list. Never-the-less, I was excited I could witness the rare occurance, and even thought about taking the day off to make sure I didn’t miss it.
As Monday morning arrived I had completely forgotten about taking a vacation day, or looking into buying the special glasses needed to view the eclipse. Once I realized it was the day, I started chatting with people about the timing, based on our location. There were some people interested, but I seemed to be the only one really fascinated in my nearby area.
Most of the early morning sky looked like a typical summer day; sunny one minute and cloudy the next. However, later morning clouds began to roll in that just hung in the air. As the time neared closer to the phenomenon, people began hustling and bustling about, filing outside one by one to get a look.
One last time, I reached out to the people in my area to see if they wanted to join me…..nothing…..but crickets! Even though I didn’t have the special glasses or hand-made box needed to view the eclipse, I had to go and see for myself what the hoopla was all about.
As I made my way outdoors, people along the path were discussing whether to look or not to look directly at the sun. It was hilarious to watch as people would glance and then quickly look away. I have to admit, I was one of those people. Because it was so cloudy, it was hard to tell when it actually started happening.
The people with glasses were oohing and aahing over how awesome and cool it was. Someone told me to use my phone as if I was taking a selfie, but actually point it at the sky. I couldn’t quite determine if I was filming the eclipse or not. Like most, I thought at one point we would be in complete darkness, but that never happened! It was cloudy, but that was about it.
For those non-wearing glass folks, it turned out to be a big bunch of nothing. We didn’t really see much of anything other than a cool looking sky. For the well-prepared others, they were treated to an excellent and rare occurrence. Note to self……next time I go eclipsing I’ll be better prepared. Sources say, I’ll have to wait another seven years. Where were you eclipsing from?
xoxox…..Sheryl