Partial
Of the three annular eclipses visible within a few states near me, only the one in 1994 was not occulted by clouds.
When I spoke with my total eclipse fan-boy co-worker, I mentioned that long before, an annular eclipse I’d seen progressed to roughly 85% of totality.
He said there was no comparison to a total eclipse.
I truly hope that any of you so inclined were able to view the 2024 eclipse in the band of its totality.
I’ve read several essays about the 2024 event. I’ve read classic essays from years before. (Thank you Leslie) I’m left pondering the techniques the authors use to convey the awe of the event. And I wonder how many people are deeply moved by witnessing the spectacle of totality. And I wonder how many make the effort to see the eclipse from the band of totality and are meh about it.
Thinking about how people experience phenomena like a total solar eclipse has left me contemplating their varying experiences. Some viewers wrote about being in crowds where cheers went up, where songs blasted, and where I would have been appalled by the noise. Others wrote about more subdued experiences. My 2017 experience was with a small group of family far from others. We were all quiet. This year, I stayed home.
I’m left tearing at my feelings, thinking of how, by just the title of her book, Ursula Goodenough captures something of how I experience the world. She titled her work, The Sacred Depths Of Nature.
Being in the totality is falling in love the first time
It is getting a paper back from your teacher marked Perfect! when you still liked school
It’s the thrill of your first big paycheck
It’s a sex dream you had about a celebrity, the one you still can’t talk about
Totality is the day you woke up early and went outside to see the sun rise. You came back inside before anyone was awake and you never told a soul
The whole world is filled with this kind of experience and Ursula was kind enough to point it out.
It is also finishing this essay
They were cold. I peeked at last weeks, it was too cloudy, but I saw the one in 1994, a memorable chill from that one.