That is really amazing Carrie. Here in Iowa it was supposed to be 85%. Not sure it was but I too remember the change in the light. It was different from the natural cycle of dawn/twilight. Your description is helpful to put words around it.
to finish my post - I decided to video the totality, and to play the Dave Carter song "When I Go" as the Quiet Valley Ranch went to black (I have an arrangement of the song that is in DADGAE tuning with 2 capos), which I frequently play with my eyes blinfolded or closed... even in total darkness, I hit almost every note of the song!
I'd like to share with you this poem I wrote right after the eclipse ended. There was a moment as the moon started to pass by the sun that the sun was half covered in shadow, half in light. The sun looked like the symbol for yin and yang. After the eclipse was over and the light returned to its usual mid-day brightness, everything seemed as it was before, only oddly different. Perhaps it was me who had changed. Here is the poem. I hope you enjoy it and that it brings back memories of your eclipse experience.
Carrie, What came to my mind in reading your reflection was the intimate closeness of the life process of Sun, insects, wind, temperature, people and their emotions and their energy of love. This intimacy seems often inaccessible or missing in our go-go lives. So for four minutes we had to stop and really pay attention to what is always there.
My imagining in anticipation of the eclipse was that I would be in respectful, deep stillness. In fact, the whole experience was so awe inspiring that my friend and I couldn't help but exclaim, "oh my gosh, look at it now! Wow! It's almost fully covered, look at the light all around us, and now look how amazing! We couldn't help ourselves. I decided that the exclamations were our prayer of thanksgiving.
Hi Carrie, thank you SO MUCH for sharing your experience of the totality. It was much the way I have imagined it would be; I was not in totality, though did find myself in an area (my hometown) that was at 85%. I wanted very much to experience it as the solemn, magical event it is, but the horrible commercialism that began to run rampant turned me off completely and I decided to be with it in the local woods.
The way you and your extended family (daughter, S-I-L, his parents) out in nature, with others who shared a common goal to experience its majesty is a treasure you will never forget. Though I am envious, I am very very relieved and excited to read your words and know IT WAS that way.
Now, without further ado, I am going to RE read your post to get a little bit more of that magic solar eclipse and moon dust in my eyes! Big Hugs from SW PA...
Here in my home town in southern Ontario Canada, I experienced 99%. I almost thought we would miss it as it had been overcast all day but oddly it seemed like the clouds parted just before the eclipse. The first ray of sunshine I saw, I headed outside with my glasses to get a view if I could and it was more amazing than I could have ever imagined!! I messaged one of my neighbours to come out, she said she didn’t have the special glasses, have no fear she could borrow mine. Shortly afterwards more of my neighbours came out but none had the glasses, I shard mine around, giving everyone an opportunity to experience what we will never experience again in our lifetime. I loved seeing the expressions when each looked through the glasses, moments of jaw dropping awe and wonder. At 99% it left just a tiny sliver of the sun but I still experienced the same feelings as you did Carrie when it got darker, the sudden drop in temperature ( good thing I had my sweater jacket on!), everything went still. The birds stopped singing, streetlights came on, crickets started chirping. It was like time outside of time for those brief few minutes. There were areas around me (an hour and a half drive) that had 100% totality, but I wasn’t about to fight traffic, thousands of people or even book a hotel at $1000 a night price tag. I wish I could have shared those moments with my sweetheart but unfortunately he was at work and my daughter was away at school. I’m glad I chose to stay put and share it with my neighbours . A piece of history we all shared together no matter what side of the border we are on!
Heard on NPR the giraffes started galloping, and the flamingos also acted oddly, but 25% of animals showed no awareness, while the rest started evening then morning activities. The eclipse was a wonderfully convenient excuse to visit family and Earlham. Sitting on a porch swing just before totality a wind arose and blew off thousands of small white blossom petals from nearby trees filling the air like a light snowstorm. Managed to align binoculars with solar glasses near totality in hopes of seeing moon mountains or solar flares, but at least got a much closer view. Saw an eclipse in Hawaii once, but as soon as totality arrived near Indianapolis, instantly knew the Hawaii eclipse was only partial, and had never experienced such an awe and soul inspiring event.
Carrie, thank you for your beautiful description of the eclipse. I was just north of you at Newfields in Indianapolis. It was a joyful “urban” experience, Total Eclipse of the Art, with live music, food & drink, and art making stations. Like you I could not have anticipated the amazement, wonder and delight that totality elicited in me. I wanted those 4 minutes to stay just a little bit longer. But then that first tiny sliver of sun that emerged from behind the moon cast a giant spotlight on us that took my breath away. Miraculous.
Thousands of miles away, on the other half of the globe, I read a lot about the eclipse.
This reflection from Carrie is the most beautiful I've read.
What has the reflection taught me? That there are phenomena, about which poets have more to say than scientists.
***
How weird must be a feeling, to which "we have no reference point for". When the sun rises every day, do we realize, how miraculous, how wonderful our planet is?
Thank you, Carrie. Your description is excellent. I live in Westfield, Indiana just north of Indianpapolis - we, too, were in total eclipse. I've found myself wanting to write a poem about it - though I'm not a poetry writer. The site was so unique and profound, the only way to describe it fully, seems to need to bee in the succinct language of poetry. But I haven't achieved that just yet. My reflection: As the eclipse began, it seemed a lampshade had been put on the sun - giving the air a filtered light. The longer I watched, it seemed I was watching a very personal interaction between the sun and moon - a few moments when the moon reflected back to the sun's his beauty and power and we were offered the diamond ring and the glow of the unique relationship between the sun and moon as they kissed and met face to face. We were surrounded simultaneously by sunrise and unset for 360 degrees while a significant chill and breeze filled the air, birds quieted and in a far distance was the sound of people cheering. I was in our back yard, with my husband, a grandson (age 18) and two friends - a and all of us were in awe, each noticing different details, everyone clearly experiencing something so profoundly unique we were at a loss for adequate words, but the tones of our voices said it all. Thank you so much for the link to NASA!! Wonderful coverage to enjoy again and again!
I wasn’t in totality this year, but experienced it in 2017. My husband remembers seeing stars in the middle of the day. What I remember is our neighbors gathering in the street saying “Wow!” We had recently moved into the neighborhood and it was a neat bonding experience. I also remember the partial shadows on the leaves.
My husband and I traveled from West Virginia to Akron, OH the morning of the eclipse so we could experience the totality, something neither of us had experienced before. Not being familiar with Akron, we more or less randomly picked a city park as our destination. It was perfect…lots of open green space and a place to park our car! We tried a photo or two during the totality, but they didn’t come close to capturing the beauty, the mystery, the wonder and magic of those minutes we shared with the other people in the park. I found that sharing those moments with total strangers really touched my soul…for at least those moments there was this feeling of connection. I am so grateful to have had this experience.
My husband’s daughter, her husband, two sons and daughter-in-law piled into a van to drive from Leavenworth, Kansas to Edinboro in NW PA (over 13 hours!) to see totality. My husband, Jim called them before they started their pilgrimage to warn them that especially in early April our little town has no guarantee of good viewing weather. ‘We wasn’t to see you! was their answer. That morning was covered in clouds, then came drizzling rain. All I could think was well we warned them. And then about an hour before the eclipse began the day broke clear with beautiful sunshine. We dragged chairs to the edge of the our kettle lake along with many neighbors. The night before a dear neighbor spelled out ECLIPSE with solar tea lights on the picnic table. At the moment of totality they lit up! Reading Annie Dillard’s Total Eclipse finally made sense where it never had before (Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters) Holding all these glorious moments in my heart. Both shared and so personal.
Great description of the event, Carrie!
I do believe that the eclipse was God's way of winking at us!
That is really amazing Carrie. Here in Iowa it was supposed to be 85%. Not sure it was but I too remember the change in the light. It was different from the natural cycle of dawn/twilight. Your description is helpful to put words around it.
to finish my post - I decided to video the totality, and to play the Dave Carter song "When I Go" as the Quiet Valley Ranch went to black (I have an arrangement of the song that is in DADGAE tuning with 2 capos), which I frequently play with my eyes blinfolded or closed... even in total darkness, I hit almost every note of the song!
Thanks again for your description! <3
I'd like to share with you this poem I wrote right after the eclipse ended. There was a moment as the moon started to pass by the sun that the sun was half covered in shadow, half in light. The sun looked like the symbol for yin and yang. After the eclipse was over and the light returned to its usual mid-day brightness, everything seemed as it was before, only oddly different. Perhaps it was me who had changed. Here is the poem. I hope you enjoy it and that it brings back memories of your eclipse experience.
At the End of The Eclipse
Judith Valente
After the sky became a watery blue again,
the wind grew gentler and the birds
began chanting once more
the sun and moon became the halved symbol
for yin and yang: the sun’s amber half the yin
the moon’s dark half the yang.
Perhaps this was what they were trying
to tell us all along, that this is it:
light and shadow; loss and love,
music and noise, reason and wildness.
Two sulfur butterflies pedal the air,
purple squill, yellow dandelion flowers
spring up between fresh blades of grass,
buds green on the still mostly bare tree boughs.
Everything is as it was before, only changed.
Carrie, What came to my mind in reading your reflection was the intimate closeness of the life process of Sun, insects, wind, temperature, people and their emotions and their energy of love. This intimacy seems often inaccessible or missing in our go-go lives. So for four minutes we had to stop and really pay attention to what is always there.
My imagining in anticipation of the eclipse was that I would be in respectful, deep stillness. In fact, the whole experience was so awe inspiring that my friend and I couldn't help but exclaim, "oh my gosh, look at it now! Wow! It's almost fully covered, look at the light all around us, and now look how amazing! We couldn't help ourselves. I decided that the exclamations were our prayer of thanksgiving.
Hi Carrie, thank you SO MUCH for sharing your experience of the totality. It was much the way I have imagined it would be; I was not in totality, though did find myself in an area (my hometown) that was at 85%. I wanted very much to experience it as the solemn, magical event it is, but the horrible commercialism that began to run rampant turned me off completely and I decided to be with it in the local woods.
The way you and your extended family (daughter, S-I-L, his parents) out in nature, with others who shared a common goal to experience its majesty is a treasure you will never forget. Though I am envious, I am very very relieved and excited to read your words and know IT WAS that way.
Now, without further ado, I am going to RE read your post to get a little bit more of that magic solar eclipse and moon dust in my eyes! Big Hugs from SW PA...
Here in my home town in southern Ontario Canada, I experienced 99%. I almost thought we would miss it as it had been overcast all day but oddly it seemed like the clouds parted just before the eclipse. The first ray of sunshine I saw, I headed outside with my glasses to get a view if I could and it was more amazing than I could have ever imagined!! I messaged one of my neighbours to come out, she said she didn’t have the special glasses, have no fear she could borrow mine. Shortly afterwards more of my neighbours came out but none had the glasses, I shard mine around, giving everyone an opportunity to experience what we will never experience again in our lifetime. I loved seeing the expressions when each looked through the glasses, moments of jaw dropping awe and wonder. At 99% it left just a tiny sliver of the sun but I still experienced the same feelings as you did Carrie when it got darker, the sudden drop in temperature ( good thing I had my sweater jacket on!), everything went still. The birds stopped singing, streetlights came on, crickets started chirping. It was like time outside of time for those brief few minutes. There were areas around me (an hour and a half drive) that had 100% totality, but I wasn’t about to fight traffic, thousands of people or even book a hotel at $1000 a night price tag. I wish I could have shared those moments with my sweetheart but unfortunately he was at work and my daughter was away at school. I’m glad I chose to stay put and share it with my neighbours . A piece of history we all shared together no matter what side of the border we are on!
Heard on NPR the giraffes started galloping, and the flamingos also acted oddly, but 25% of animals showed no awareness, while the rest started evening then morning activities. The eclipse was a wonderfully convenient excuse to visit family and Earlham. Sitting on a porch swing just before totality a wind arose and blew off thousands of small white blossom petals from nearby trees filling the air like a light snowstorm. Managed to align binoculars with solar glasses near totality in hopes of seeing moon mountains or solar flares, but at least got a much closer view. Saw an eclipse in Hawaii once, but as soon as totality arrived near Indianapolis, instantly knew the Hawaii eclipse was only partial, and had never experienced such an awe and soul inspiring event.
Carrie, thank you for your beautiful description of the eclipse. I was just north of you at Newfields in Indianapolis. It was a joyful “urban” experience, Total Eclipse of the Art, with live music, food & drink, and art making stations. Like you I could not have anticipated the amazement, wonder and delight that totality elicited in me. I wanted those 4 minutes to stay just a little bit longer. But then that first tiny sliver of sun that emerged from behind the moon cast a giant spotlight on us that took my breath away. Miraculous.
Thousands of miles away, on the other half of the globe, I read a lot about the eclipse.
This reflection from Carrie is the most beautiful I've read.
What has the reflection taught me? That there are phenomena, about which poets have more to say than scientists.
***
How weird must be a feeling, to which "we have no reference point for". When the sun rises every day, do we realize, how miraculous, how wonderful our planet is?
Thank you, Carrie. Your description is excellent. I live in Westfield, Indiana just north of Indianpapolis - we, too, were in total eclipse. I've found myself wanting to write a poem about it - though I'm not a poetry writer. The site was so unique and profound, the only way to describe it fully, seems to need to bee in the succinct language of poetry. But I haven't achieved that just yet. My reflection: As the eclipse began, it seemed a lampshade had been put on the sun - giving the air a filtered light. The longer I watched, it seemed I was watching a very personal interaction between the sun and moon - a few moments when the moon reflected back to the sun's his beauty and power and we were offered the diamond ring and the glow of the unique relationship between the sun and moon as they kissed and met face to face. We were surrounded simultaneously by sunrise and unset for 360 degrees while a significant chill and breeze filled the air, birds quieted and in a far distance was the sound of people cheering. I was in our back yard, with my husband, a grandson (age 18) and two friends - a and all of us were in awe, each noticing different details, everyone clearly experiencing something so profoundly unique we were at a loss for adequate words, but the tones of our voices said it all. Thank you so much for the link to NASA!! Wonderful coverage to enjoy again and again!
I wasn’t in totality this year, but experienced it in 2017. My husband remembers seeing stars in the middle of the day. What I remember is our neighbors gathering in the street saying “Wow!” We had recently moved into the neighborhood and it was a neat bonding experience. I also remember the partial shadows on the leaves.
My husband and I traveled from West Virginia to Akron, OH the morning of the eclipse so we could experience the totality, something neither of us had experienced before. Not being familiar with Akron, we more or less randomly picked a city park as our destination. It was perfect…lots of open green space and a place to park our car! We tried a photo or two during the totality, but they didn’t come close to capturing the beauty, the mystery, the wonder and magic of those minutes we shared with the other people in the park. I found that sharing those moments with total strangers really touched my soul…for at least those moments there was this feeling of connection. I am so grateful to have had this experience.
My husband’s daughter, her husband, two sons and daughter-in-law piled into a van to drive from Leavenworth, Kansas to Edinboro in NW PA (over 13 hours!) to see totality. My husband, Jim called them before they started their pilgrimage to warn them that especially in early April our little town has no guarantee of good viewing weather. ‘We wasn’t to see you! was their answer. That morning was covered in clouds, then came drizzling rain. All I could think was well we warned them. And then about an hour before the eclipse began the day broke clear with beautiful sunshine. We dragged chairs to the edge of the our kettle lake along with many neighbors. The night before a dear neighbor spelled out ECLIPSE with solar tea lights on the picnic table. At the moment of totality they lit up! Reading Annie Dillard’s Total Eclipse finally made sense where it never had before (Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters) Holding all these glorious moments in my heart. Both shared and so personal.