A few days ago I was stumbling around on the internet, and I found this website about the 2024 total solar eclipse. I am obsessed with the Geocities nature of it: purely informational, crowded, simplistic design, all of the exclamation marks.
My memory of the 2017 eclipse is magical. I had been living in Portland for a year. My best friend Kathryn came to visit for the first time. We got tattoos. Kathryn tried on wedding dresses. We went to the Oregon coast. We went to Seattle for a day. Kathryn’s mom sent eclipse glasses with her. We walked down to the Burnside Bridge as it was happening. We stopped to get donuts from Blue Star, and one by one, we had the employees step outside and borrow our glasses. Watching their expressions change as soon as they held the glasses up was nearly as moving as the eclipse itself. When we got to the bridge, we watched the sky darken, the streetlights flicker on, the wind pick up. After it was over, we noticed the crescent shadows dance on the sidewalk. I remember feeling so happy, so lucky to be alive.
I don’t think we will be able to get to the path of totality for the 2024 eclipse. A better version of myself would have planned for it, but perhaps this is meant to be a once in a lifetime event.
I remember watching this from the roof of the Georgia Tech building I worked at with all my new coworkers and how exciting it was.
I loved this line, "Watching their expressions change as soon as they held the glasses up was nearly as moving as the eclipse itself. "