after you’ve been here a while, you realize that the list of things i love is very long and i enjoy it guilt free. on that list is space stuff and i was VERY excited about the eclipse because i’ve never seen a total eclipse before.
where we live was just outside the path of totality, so once i picked my son up from his shortened day of school (11:15 am!) we charged batteries, downloaded shows, and packed snacks so we’d be ready for our road trip. we drove a little over an hour north to give ourselves 3 minutes of totality.
my son is a total road trip pro. i think i could probably take him anywhere. he’s nearly 8 and he knows how to travel in style. he snacked the whole way there, watching a show. we drove north and east, taking ourselves to a beach we know very well. the road was lined with cars - there were people out on small landings and outcroppings, cameras on tripods with huge lenses, people in lounging chairs and sun glasses. genuinely, it was so festive.
i was a bit on edge because the road is very narrow and with the parking, we were down to about one lane in some spots. i was eager to get to the very end of the road. if you take that narrow road all the way to its very end, there is a beach.
(official eclipse viewing stance)
the small child peed in a bush, and fell out of it when he was trying to turn around. once he’d recovered himself, we shlepped down to the beach where he managed to get as much sand on himself as he possibly could. he dug holes, he rolled around in it. all very eclipse-worthy behaviours. and again and again, he checked the progress of the sun as it became smaller and smaller yet still.
i enjoyed juxtaposing watching him with watching the people around us. i’ve never seen that many people at this beach in my life. they were set up, like those along the road, with cameras and chairs, snacks, at least one group had a bonfire. it was such a POSITIVE collective experience. and it’s been so long, it seems, since we’ve had a good collective experience that was positive, isn’t it?
the thing about the sun is that as it slips behind the moon on its path of being eclipsed, it emits less warmth, so it got cold, fast. it dropped several degrees. we could see our breath. my son put his coat back on. it looked as though night was falling. the gulls started screeching as the skies darkened. it was eerie.
as the sun slipped completely behind the moon, the stars began to appear. through my eclipse glasses and in front of my face was the new moon, dark side to us, with the furthest edges of the sun’s corona flaring behind it. it was magnificent. for three of the shortest minutes of my life i tried to take in what the sun looked like, what the stars looked like, what the beach looked like. i tried to take in the fact that there were two planes flying within my view at this exact moment, that it looked like night over the water, that people clapped when totality occurred and it wasn’t weird or embarrassing.
a group of Mi’Kmaq from the Elsipogtog First Nation beat hide drums to mark the significance of the occasion. the gulls stopped screaming and for three minutes, we collectively observed magic - the alignment of three celestial bodies.
if i had had the time to scream with joy, i would have, but i was so focused on then trying to identify the bailey’s beads and the moment the celestials became a diamond right and THEN, even though totality was amazing, let me tell you about what i was not prepared for : the moment the sun reemerged.
it doesn’t lighten like dawn. as the sun slides just past the obstruction of the moon, it begins to pour forth, flooding the earth.
with a collective gasp of awe from possibly every person on that beach, we went from night to day. there was an immediate bathing in sun, the warmth returning, the delight of the crowd.
the shadows on the beach looked like petals shimmering with movement. i have no other way to explain it other than the shadows were dancing. exquisite.
as the sun continued on its path, real life settled back in, starting with my child asking if we could go home. he thanked me for bringing him and complained that the sun was too slow. only a child can complain about the speed of cosmic time.
everyone that headed north piled on the highway to head back south. years of living in a big city prepared me for this kind of full highway traffic jam. when we got far enough west, i slipped away from the crowd and took the back roads home.
i understand why scientists aren’t the only ones who chase eclipses now. i would love to see another one to just take in. to not worry about seeing stars and bailey’s beads. but to see one more, to just take it all in.
anyways, all this to say, if you were on a NB beach and a woman with short curly hair, dressed all in black was shouting, “it’s bailey’s beads!” “oh my god, it’s the diamond ring!” that might have been me. and i hope you saw them and i hope they were beautiful to you too.
n xx