Dual Dusk Day
Recount of My Experience during August 21 Eclipse
Eclipse for Humanity?
Nancy's Version Written for Wooster Weekly
August 23, 2017
It came as any morn as Sol climbed his familiar path. Science had forewarned and placed us in our terrestrial haven. Expectation was as high as the noonday sun. Our mission required an early morning hike; we were unfazed by the spidery inhabitants of the deep woods. We found our open space. Shade for the wait was beside our view of open water. Now the wait for the coming cosmic event begins; we unpacked our minimalist chair and paltry comforts. We were the first arrivals and wondered if masses would follow. The sun burned the air to low furnace levels before it would pale. The mule returned to the trail and back to resupply the expedition. Wait, hydrate, and devour a spate of nutrients was our ritual preparation. We the forewarned observed the devouring shadow swallow the disk, with our eyes hidden behind our ISO stamped flimsy filter strips. Sol slowly paced just past the apogee of his trace, and then diminution became complete. The air lost its heat, a rosy shade painted round our edges, and looking directly at the object of our ardent pursuit were the wisps, the dancing streams of energies. Time paused became quiet as if taking a breath to prepare for night. Now, there was no noonday sun. It is a sight rarely seen; yet by the standard of an eternal clock it is a common scene. It was a moment, an encompassing experience filled with peace.
A few fellow pilgrims had sought this haven. We all understood the vagaries of time and place had brought us together in a shared moment. The millions in the millions of spots, but this handful of souls had together found journey here. Some from the far north and some from the far south had wandered here to experience the wonder of our universe. All knew there was no guarantee no matter how much scientific knowledge one carried in their pack. Forces outside us controlled, as is the reality of our world. We can only control ourselves and hope, pray, or believe in luck that our guesses and estimates will place us well. We were well placed. We are all back now, traveling to the normal, the mundane, and the everyday. A natural event can joust us from our everyday perch, jog us to a more complex perception. I cannot help but feel humanity should heed this call. We must appreciate the temporal nature even of the seeming eternal. Now humanity must perceive we are called to elevate ourselves in order that this earthly place is fit for an eternal reckoning. Our resources are many, but our opportunity is passing. Can we place ourselves as a species in a place to see the rosy glow, hear the stillness, and experience the peace of dusk? Can we find that unity of totality? Will humanity find that fellowship of preparation and preservation that is required for us to fulfill our destiny?