"I'm not a religious person," more than one individual was heard to say about a past solar eclipse. "But my first was a spiritual experience. It changed my life."
I'd hate to take that away from someone. It certainly is an unusual experience. But life changing? I guess I feel like if you understand it - that the moon comes between Earth and the sun, causing a shadow resulting in darkness over a narrow line across our planet's surface - why should it change your life?
We were a little disappointed in the eclipse this week. The hassle of the crowds and the traffic kept us a few miles out of the line of totality, so we ended up in a spot where there was two percent sunlight. So it wasn't completely dark where we were. We got to see the eclipse using our special glasses, which was great, and we observed a twilightish glow on the horizon, a noticeable change in temperature, and a resulting cool breeze, but we missed the total darkness and starlit sky that we'd anticipated. It was hardly life changing for us.
If you were lucky enough to experience the totality and it changed your life, well, good for you.
I did appreciate the eclipse experience. Even where we were, slightly out of the line of totality, people gathered by the shores of Lake Yellowstone with their lawn chairs and special eclipse glasses. Park rangers handed out educational materials and explained what was going on and what to expect (it turns out, they too were a little overly optimistic about seeing stars, planets, and constellations). Park visitors, along with most Americans, were united by the anticipation of such an unusual event. No one denied the science that predicted what was going to happen. Republicans and Democrats temporarily put aside their differences to marvel at what was going on in the sky. People flocked to social media to share one experience - not another crazy speech by the President, but a wonder of nature that we could all agree was kind of amazing (if not universally life changing).
The next day, things went back to normal. We left Yellowstone and got back into a place with a good Internet connection. We learned that the President gave probably the most unhinged speech yet. Life on Earth returned to normal.
But the eclipse was a nice break, wasn't it?
