My dear sister, Tanya Bohlke, was one of the lucky millions who witnessed last month’s total eclipse of the sun. She experienced it as a profound natural event, so I asked her to write about it here:
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When I first read the phrase “in the path of totality,” I thought it sounded thrilling but perhaps a bit over the top. However, I discovered that witnessing the total eclipse was so much more thrilling and amazing than even that phrase could describe.
My daughter and I traveled from Virginia to Columbia, South Carolina, to view the eclipse on Saturday, August 19, two days before The Event. We fell in love with the town, which sponsored so many different eclipse-related activities. We went to the Science Museum with its IMAX show and Planetarium laser show, on the river, and a street festival featuring trees decorated with colorful yarn art, known as “yarn bombs.”
There were no hotels available in Columbia after Saturday, so on Sunday we journeyed to Orangeburg, also in the direct path of the eclipse and a community that welcomed us with its spectacular marching band. There, on the stadium grounds of South Carolina State University, we awaited the eclipse.
The grounds around the stadium were large enough so that even though there were many people, we found a lovely, quiet spot in the shade of a tree. We could duck out, don our glasses to view the disappearing sun, and then move back to the shade It took longer than we had anticipated to begin to see darkness and shadows, but soon there was an eerie quality in the air. . . .
When totality arrived, people first cheered, then were stunned into an awed silence.
It was one of the most surreal things I have ever seen–the eerie shadows, then total dark, except for the brilliant corona, and in the background the croak of crickets, thinking it was nighttime!
It is easy to understand why ancient peoples thought a total eclipse meant the world was ending. Totality lasted 2+ minutes, but it seemed like 30 seconds. We wanted it to never end.–Tanya Bohlke