Eclipso

(from this Instagram page.)

You probably heard, there was an eclipse today.  It was a pretty big deal - the first total solar eclipse in the United States since 1979, which cut a swath like a scar across the country so that people from Oregon to South Carolina would be bathed in darkness for a period of time.  It was quite awe-inspiring.

& I almost ignored it.  I don't know why I wasn't very excited about it.  It might be that here in Texas, the sun would only be 76% occluded.  It might be because it was something I've experienced before, in Austin in the 2000s.  It might be because it was a Monday, I'm always working on my show on Monday, I just was focused on that.  Or it might be because my cat Beatrice had a vet appointment, which my wife scheduled around the time the eclipse was to start in Texas.

Whatever the reason, I was saved from my own disinterest by my next-door neighbors, Jim & Martha, who are star-watchers, & who were hosting a small eclipse-watching party & who kindly invited me over.  There, a handful of their friends drank some sweet bubbly alcohol (like champagne, but obviously not) & used the special glasses I hadn't bothered to get, & also had a telescope, with the appropriate filters, aimed at the sun.  It stayed very bright out even with over three-fourths of the sun covered, though the sky turned a kind of light purple that reminded me of dropping acid when I was young.  I could get no pictures - I don't have a fancy camera - but I did love staring with the glasses at the moon & sun dancing slowly above us.

We drank a toast to the sun & moon & one of the guests said, "We should have been pagans!"  I told her that she was allowed to, that that's something you can do in this country, & mentioned that day-drinking might deserve a nod to Dionysus.  I stayed a bit longer, staring as much as the sight that I had, just hours before, thought I had no interest in.

Then of course I had to go back to working on my show.