When I first heard that a Solar Eclipse was coming, I wasn't in a hurry to see it. Since I live in Michigan, it would probably be too cloudy. Plus, it was only going to be a 98% eclipse at my location. Besides, it's simply the shadow of the moon, moving in like a cloud.
Then the day came. I was listening to the radio and that's all they were talking about. They kept saying how this is a rare event, and somehow it was sunny out. I found a map on the NASA website tracking the eclipse. It was pretty good because you could enter your location and it would show an image of how much of the moon was covering the sun. So with all the hoopla, I started becoming more interested. My plan was to look out the window at 3:14 to see just how dark it might be. As the time came closer, more and more people were talking about it and asking questions like "when is it?" I was able to tell them the current percentage of coverage and the peak time thanks to the NASA map. But...I did not have the glasses.
It felt like a party was breaking out, and people started gathering by a window. They had the glasses and were sharing them. Next thing I know, I'm looking at it with the glasses on. It really was amazing. Some patients wanted to see and they were even putting the glasses on them.
Then some friends told me to come outside with them, and they had the glasses, so of course I came. Doctors, nurses, some patients and many others all gathered outside. As the moon approached, it started to get colder and darker outside...of course. Car and street lights came on. I was freezing but refused to budge. Thanks to friends, I was able to see the eclipse at 3:14 pm, which I greatly appreciated.
In those few minutes, it was like we were all united. All those good vibes left an impression on me. It kind of gave me some sort of natural high. I felt like I was on cloud nine the rest of the day.
What made this special is that so many came together to watch a rare event caused entirely by nature. Other than to watch, humans have nothing to do with it. If only these moments of unity could happen more often. I'm also wondering if this means I need a vacation.
In this video, scroll up to 2:30 pm to view the complete eclipse in Ohio.
I leave you with this photo of the eclipse as I stood outside the hospital. I took this by raising up my phone while not looking, which was awkward. As you can see, the camera wasn't capable of capturing it at all. If you look at the clouds, you can see that something is happening.
I hadn't really prepared for it at all either, figuring it was going to be too cloudy and then somehow it wasn't. But I was really slammed for work so I just peeked out the window a couple of times to see it was getting dark.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if those good vibes lasted longer than a few minutes though.