The Eclipse

For the August 2017 total solar eclipse in Oregon, a friend just happened to own open property in the center of totality. A bunch of us piled into cars and drove down to the site, camping the night before on a high hill with a perfect view of the rising sun the next morning. A few hours after sunrise the eclipse began and over the next hour the sky began to darken, the birds stopped singing, the air chilled, and an eerie feeling settled in around us. Then, just before 10:20am, we watched in awe as the moon completely eclipsed the sun, keeping it hidden for a little over two minutes. We yelled to the heavens, froze in disbelief, understood our planet, our solar system, the universe, realized how tiny and insignificant we are, devoted ourselves to the sun. The experience was absolutely mind-boggling. 

After the event I researched when the next total eclipse would be. When I learned it would be on my birthday in 2024 I said to the universe, "I'm going to have a big f-ing party."