The Eclipse happened on Sunday and I saw it. I've never seen one before, but this time we were ready with Eclipse Shades for the whole household, thanks to my partner's foresightedness. This far south, there was no "ring of fire" but the C-shaped cresent got very thin, the quality of the light changed, there were funky shifting shadows of the eclipse all over and it looked, at one point, as if the sun was going to go totally out. It did not, and I actually felt relief. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, they say, and I suppose that is true of the sun.
I got weirdly excited by looking at the sun directly - not with the naked eye, but I wasn't looking at a picture of film or shadow. It was THE SUN. I sat outside on the front stoop long after everyone else had gone in because I was fascinated by it, although I am not sure why. It was emotionally exciting, the eclipse. It seemed like SOMETHING was really happening. I've heard eclipse chasers talk about this emotion, but now I have an inkling of it.
Because although I've had my bumpy times with the sun - being fair, I burn and do not tolerate heat well (can't wait for that upcoming India trip), in the end, I do love it. It makes the garden grow. It warms me, and the light! Am I the only one who is amazed that a tiny little window in a dark room can still flood the room with light when the sun is out? Light goes around corners; it's not line of sight. That's trippy, right? And what the hell is it doing up there for millions of years, routinely and reliably bright? I know I can get a scientific explantion but that's not what I mean; I've thought about the meaning of the sun before but now it's a whole new thing. I need to ponder it further.
I got weirdly excited by looking at the sun directly - not with the naked eye, but I wasn't looking at a picture of film or shadow. It was THE SUN. I sat outside on the front stoop long after everyone else had gone in because I was fascinated by it, although I am not sure why. It was emotionally exciting, the eclipse. It seemed like SOMETHING was really happening. I've heard eclipse chasers talk about this emotion, but now I have an inkling of it.
Because although I've had my bumpy times with the sun - being fair, I burn and do not tolerate heat well (can't wait for that upcoming India trip), in the end, I do love it. It makes the garden grow. It warms me, and the light! Am I the only one who is amazed that a tiny little window in a dark room can still flood the room with light when the sun is out? Light goes around corners; it's not line of sight. That's trippy, right? And what the hell is it doing up there for millions of years, routinely and reliably bright? I know I can get a scientific explantion but that's not what I mean; I've thought about the meaning of the sun before but now it's a whole new thing. I need to ponder it further.
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