The mind-bending awe of a total solar eclipse
In 2017 it was wondrous, strange, time-expanding.
No doubt you’ve heard about today’s total solar eclipse (April 8, 2024) and its path of totality across Mexico, a swath of the U.S., and Canada. But unless you are 100% within the path of totality, and blessed with a clear sky, you can’t experience the celestial majesty (it’s not an overstatement) of the event). As Annie Dillard famously wrote1, “Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him.” I am quite sure that is true, having witnessed the total solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017.
I love reliving the memories of that day and of the time-expanding minutes as the moon slowly moved across—and totally blocked—the sun. It was “the purest illustration of the passage of time;” that’s how I described it in an account I wrote the next day. It had been my 86-year-old father’s idea to scoop up four generations of his family, charter a plane, and fly to a 100% spot to view the total eclipse. He researched destinations and weather patterns for weeks. And at the last minute, announced we were flying to Athens, Tennessee for the day. Here’s my (shortened) account of the day, first published on my blog2.
Monday Aug. 21, 2017: departure at 6:30 AM to fly south to Tennessee
Our small chartered jet took off from the Bangor, Maine airport at 6:30 AM, carrying two dozen members of my family, ages six months (my grandson) to 86 (my dad, his great-grandfather), along with a few friends. We landed at the modest Athens, TN airport just before 9:30 AM. It was already steamy hot, but the sky was cloud-free and blue. What a relief to have a clear sky, after days of going back and forth about our destination (initially to be Columbia, South Carolina). Lugging giant coolers of cold drinks, a newly-purchased tent from Target, and a handful of folding chairs we set up camp in a grove of trees near the runway.
We started waiting
We’d brought snacks and a few sandwiches but our older daughter enterprisingly ordered takeout from a local restaurant to be delivered to our campsite. Just before noon, a pickup truck appeared loaded with 30 hot lunches (pulled pork, fried steak and chicken dumplings). The food was tooth-achingly sweet, but delicious.
We waited some more
It got hotter. We rested. We played cards and catch. My nieces braided everyone’s hair. Our seven-year-old granddaughter Dorothea befriended an older couple sitting near us who had brought two impressively large parrots in cages.
Finally, just after 1:00 PM Eastern, the show began. As we all peered through our eclipse glasses (including the three and five-year-olds) we could see the moon moving slowly, slowly across the sun like a perfect bite out of an apple getting bigger and bigger. We’d peek and then retreat back to the shade. It was still broiling hot and bright. It was taking too long.
”To my surprise, I felt tears… It was as if we were seeing a lifetime pass by, in a handful of minutes. The slow creeping of the moon across the sun, in those pre- and post-totality minutes, was the purest illustration of the passage of time I’d ever experienced.”
Then, about 15 minutes before totality, we felt rather than saw the slanted light of dusk. The air temperature dropped, a little. The crescent shadows multiplied. We swore the cicadas in our grove of trees got louder, thinking it was dusk. The parrots squawked. Still, with five minutes to go, we waited for something more dramatic.
Finally, totality
And then at 2:32 PM Eastern, right on schedule, it was totality. We ripped off our protective glasses and gazed in awe. The sun was a tiny, dark disk in a pure clear sky. The fiery corona flared neatly around it, as promised. It was as magnificent and inspiring as the New York Times and every other media outlet said it would be. Oddly, while it was never pitch dark, an orangey sunset bloomed in front of us and behind us.
To my surprise, I felt tears. Here were the mysterious workings of the universe. It was as if we were seeing a lifetime pass by, in a handful of minutes. The slow creeping of the moon across the sun, in those pre- and post-totality minutes, was the purest illustration of the passage of time, and of rebirth. For a moment we witnessed, we saw, the fleetingness of life and the beauty of four generations, and more, continuing.
Thanks to my dad
Thanks to my father for a brilliant idea (we thought he was nuts when he first proposed it) and for his extraordinarily generous gift to his family of an indelible experience. It was a day and a moment to remember, to savor and to reflect on. And certainly the last total solar eclipse I’ll see in my lifetime.
We were back on our plane just after 3:00 PM, with the air conditioning barely cooling the heat that had built up inside. We took off, after waiting behind seven or eight other planes, and landed at the Bangor airport by 6:00 PM, sinking into the lovely cool of a Maine evening.”
Questions for readers
Have you ever seen a total solar eclipse?
Do you think the media excitement is silly or has it inspired you?
Total Eclipse by Annie Dillard (The Atlantic, Aug. 8, 2017)
Thanks for sharing this Debbie. I think it’s great that those of us who can’t witness the eclipse firsthand have got to watch it live online. I was very moved by it so can’t imagine the beauty and energy in person.
What a wonderful experience for you and your family. I loved reading about it, and chuckled about the tooth-aching sweet food. I woke up yesterday feeling a bit under the weather. I had intentions of watching the eclipse, but fell back to sleep. I finally awoke a few hours later feeling better, but still moving slow. As I poured a cup of coffee in the kitchen, I wondered why it was so dark, ha! I turned on the light and went about my business completely oblivious that I was missing the eclipse. It was nice to read your account to make up for my oversight. Thanks for sharing. 🧡