It was a day when we felt joined by something so far
beyond us, we couldn’t help but pause to observe it in awe. After months and
weeks of listening to sad, fearful and appalling news, it was something that
brought people together in a good way and gave us a chance to dwell on an event
over which we had no control. Yet, it seemed to bring joy and a feeling of
camaraderie with the entire country. Even if you weren’t in the path of
totality or weren’t able to watch it in person, you probably saw it unfold on
TV or the Internet. Solar Eclipse Day 2017, when the shadow of the moon swept
across the heartland and many people stopped to look up (with the proper eye
protection!) and to appreciate a most magnificent display of celestial beauty.
I dare to say nothing we could produce here on earth could rival the show the
sun and moon managed to put on for most of the afternoon, and we didn’t have to
buy tickets to attend.
Watching people’s reactions to the eclipse was almost as
much fun as the event itself. Many who traveled hundred, even thousands, of
miles seemed more than willing to put up with crowds and inconveniences for the
chance to see the moon blot out the sun. How good to know we have not gone
beyond the ability to appreciate such a natural event. People even applauded at
the peak and when the diamond effect beamed sunlight past the moon’s rim.
Where I live, we experienced about an 80% eclipse and
that was quite amazing. Clouds threatened to blot out the sky, but at the
moment of the most coverage they added to the eerie, hazy gray light cast by
the sliver of sun.
I’m sure the towns and communities that were in the
path of the eclipse are happy and relieved it is finally over, after a summer
of so much hype, but a takeaway lesson for everyone might be to appreciate what
is beyond us, and to let it take us out of ourselves, if even just for a few
moments. Let the summer of ’17 go down as the one when, for a few hours, we
looked up.
