Do you know the story of Chicken Little? She ran around in the rain hollering that the sky is falling, the sky is falling. Oh what shall we all do if the sky is falling? More over what shall we do if say an eclipse is coming?
Well we are about to find out because–a solar eclipse is coming, a solar eclipse is coming. Now if you are under the age of majority you have not seen a solar eclipse in your life. So get ready it is pretty cool. (If you have to look up what the “age of majority” is, you’re not there yet!) Depending on where you are on August 21 from around 9 a.m. on the northwest coast throughout the day until around 4 p.m. on the southeast coast you are in for an amazing sight. The sun will disappear. There will be a quiet that will form around you. Then it will be over and you will say one of two things. Either “Wow,” or “Eh.”
I hope you will be in awe of the fact that the sunshine beamed to the earth by the sun will be blocked out by the moon. Sound pretty iffy to you? The logistics of a solar eclipse seem to be askew. I mean the moon is a lot smaller than the earth and the earth and the moon are way smaller than the sun so how could the moon block out the sun on the earth? Okay, to put it in more useful terms: just stand behind a skinny person in the ice cream line at the local Dairy Queen and try, just try to read the menu. That is how the moon blocks out the sun on the earth during a solar eclipse.
Apparently there are those who feel the need to go into readiness mode with the upcoming celestial event. I read that in some areas states of emergency may be declared so steps can be taken to protect us when we are being shaded by the moon. Rest assured that things will happen like, well you know, the things that happen when emergencies are declared. All toilet paper, batteries, bottled water and boxed wine will be bought off of store shelves as fast as you can say, “A solar eclipse is coming a solar eclipse is coming!”
Why in some places children will be taught how to take cover under their desks to save them from any fallout from the eclipse. No, wait that was supposed to keep us safe from nuclear attacks. Ya, that’ll work like a charm.
I am pretty stoked about seeing the eclipse. Although I will be on the edge of all the hullabaloo I should still be able to get a glimpse. But just a glimpse. Because as we all know you can’t look directly into the sun, or your eyes will melt. But I think that with a solar eclipse you can watch it during the totality of coverage that will last like two minutes. Watch carefully enough to save your eyes from becoming puddles on the sidewalk. Be sure to learn the safe way to watch. Google has more than enough information to be sure your eyes are protected while you watch. As a kid I remember learning something about taking a cardboard box turning it somehow, cutting a hole in it and maybe a mirror was used and then you could see the eclipse on the sidewalk. It looked like a little round black dot on the sidewalk that became half-mooned shaped on the left, then half-moon shaped on the right and then it was over.
At the time it didn’t seem to be too cool. But since I still remember it and it was more years ago than a quarter of a century, it must have made some impression. Now though I am married to a welder and I can use his welding helmet to watch the doings.
After the solar eclipse comes and goes you might just be one of those who say, “Eh.” But you will have seen it. It will, sometime in your future be remembered as a pretty cool event. Probably not like prom, or your first job or even your first kiss, but it will be there. In your grey matter with all of your life events, just waiting to be drawn upon. Talked about with other eclipse watchers who at some point in time may use that memory to reference where they were and what they were doing when it happened.
Like asking, where were you when man landed on the moon? What were you doing when Elvis got his buzz cut for the army? Did you know there was a huge surge of babies being born nine months after a blackout in New York City? All the important life events!
Make enough popcorn to share and enjoy the show.
