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Night At Mid-afternoon

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by kkrish, Aug 24, 2017.

  1. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    I am sure everyone was treated to enormous amounts of the Solar eclipse news and pictures that all have come to the point of “one more picture and I will scream!”

    I promise I won’t post any pictures of the eclipse.
    *******
    As the D-day drew nearer we were glued to the weather channel like our life depended on it.

    Well, in a way it did, our life savings! Having booked the hotels way back in March we did not want rain to ruin everything. The weather forecast were 'cloudy skies' .

    Deciding to take a risk, we drove to Columbia, capital of S. Carolina, and in the total eclipse’s path, reaching there around 6 pm, Sunday Aug, 20th.

    They had predicted enormous traffic backups, cell phones jamming, and gasoline shortage, We encountered none. In fact the drive was smooth with almost empty roads.

    We also got a fleeting lesson on cause and effect. Here it is :)

    20170820_132954.jpg

    Once at the hotel we switched on the TV to listen to the local weather update.

    They mentioned that Monday looked great and quickly moved on to show the hurricanes developing in the Atlantic.

    We immediately felt something was not right. Why did they not show the radar where we could see the clouds? Also if the weather was really great they would be talking non-stop about it, raving about everything.

    We checked some websites and one website clearly showed the cloud cover. Columbia would experience 56% cloud cover, whereas Greenville, S.C., which was west of Columbia had only 38% cloud cover. We immediately decided to get up early in the morning and drive as far west as the roads would let us. Wherever traffic was too heavy we would just get off the highway and stay put there.

    August 21. Monday, 5 am – we drove west towards Greenville. I had taken with me some bread, butter, jam, and fruits. We drove for about an hour and a half and about 30 miles to Greenville, stopped at a rest area and had our bread and jam.

    There, we checked out Greenville’s local TV and the radar showed much clearer skies especially over a small town much closer to the rest area.

    So we dropped our plans of driving to Greenville; instead went to the town’s library and parked our car. It was 7:30 am.

    The town was a picturesque quaint little town with beautiful homes – it was like stepping into a story book.

    This was the best decision we made. The library staff were extremely friendly and invited us all to come inside to get away from hot sun. The temperature climbed steadily and it was hot, hot, and hot, reaching about 91F.

    Slowly folks began arriving; from everwhere along the East Coast - Florida, N. Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine.

    By about noon we had our lunch.
    The library had also arranged water, snacks, and free glasses.
    We read some books in the library, walked around, read books again.

    My husband was also interviewed by a high-school student for her high-school project. He had his 15 minutes of fame!

    1:10 pm ET- the first teensy weensy shadow of the moon was visible against a very orange ball. There was not much change till the sun was almost half blocked.

    Half- blocked sun – the temperature cooled to 88 F

    2:15 –ET - we definitely felt comfortable and the day turned like it was cloudy but without the clouds.

    There was one thing I noticed at this time – The shadows were extremely sharp. Not the regular slightly hazy outline, but really sharp, like a drawing in India ink.

    2:30 pm – It turned even darker and there was this strange hue. It began to feel surreal. The darkness was not the yellow tinted dawn or the red tinted twilight.

    There was a blue tinge everywhere and all the folks began to look like aliens and our earth did not look familiar. It was like we were transported to some other world.

    2:39 pm – the moon finally slid in place completely blocking the sun from us.

    It went dark though we could still see each other. We removed the solar glasses. The crickets began chirping. I noticed no birds flying anywhere though.

    Folks went quiet. Everyone was just drinking in the spectacle that had unfolded before our eyes.

    While I could explain everything before, from this point I am just not able to capture those moments in words. Stupendous, phenomenal, beautiful, fantastic, breathtaking, dumbfounding… NO. None of the words can even come close to doing justice to that experience!
    There is no way to explain!

    The corona was so majestic and pearly white! I was thinking - this corona is hotter than the sun itself.

    I looked for other planets, but could only detect an extremely bright Venus. But it was quick darting of the eyes. I was not ready to take my eyes away from the Sun. My eyes were glued to this wondrous spectacle. I greedily drank and stored the memory of every nano-second in my mind.

    After 2 minutes and 30 seconds there came this brilliant of all the brilliant lights I have ever seen in my life. The diamond ring effect!!! So brilliant! I think even if we heap all the diamonds in world in one place, it will not even come close to this brilliance. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!

    None of the pictures did justice to this, because all the cameras had filters.

    And then it was all over. The moon slowly moved on its way and it was back to partial eclipse. Immediately we felt the heat rising and within seconds it was hot again. This time there was no twilight, or dawn effect.

    Originally we had planned to stay till the entire eclipse ended. But after seeing the totality, partial eclipse failed to retain our interest.

    The whole thing was so perfect, so exquisite, and so so beautiful, I had a lump in my throat. I felt small, insignificant. There was the sun and the moon telling, “See what we can do?” and smiling down at us.

    It was a very emotional experience as well.

    On our way home, I was just looking at the green trees, the blue sky and the fluffy white clouds passing by. But something was amiss. I thought it was just anticlimax.

    My younger son also glanced outside and said, “Mom...after the total solar eclipse, nothing looks beautiful any more!
    His words captured it best.
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2017
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  2. jskls

    jskls IL Hall of Fame

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    Wow awesome. Thanks for sharing your beautiful experience. Beauty that fills the soul can't be explained in right words but still enjoyed reading the snippet. Please post some pics in the media section or here.

    Just for a moment The beautiful moon stole the Majestic Sun's light and got engaged with a diamond ring :) Will wait for 2024 for the next celestial event
     
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  3. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Thank you for your first response @jskls .
    You said it right. Beauty that fills the soul! I just remembered, you are a poet. Thats why you captured it immediately.

    Again, moon stealing Suns rays and engaged by the diamond ring..:clap2:. how sweet. I never thought in that angle.

    I did not take any pictures of the eclipse ma. The only pictures are those of my family, which I cannot post here.
     
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  4. PavithraS

    PavithraS Platinum IL'ite

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    Ah ! The Poet in you ! :)

    Madam @kkrish -
    Thank you for your effort in kindling interest in many minds regarding the Space and planets and also this Total Solar Eclipse through various informative and educative posts. This narration of your Totality Experience is so very lively.

    This sounds very philosophical to me.
    Your son seems to have aptly captured your collective feelings after it was all over.
     
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  5. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    Thank you @PavithraS
    I am happy that you like my posts. You made my day.:worship2:
    Writing this post was the toughest for me.
    Hope all can watch a total eclipse at least once.
     
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  6. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Kamala!!! What a beautiful description. If it is possible to feel like one was with you at that moment and wishing one could have been there - all in the same moment - I felt like that. Your description of the atmosphere in the moments of total eclipse and the diamond ring effect were mind-blowing.

    This and your son's statement are oh so relatable!

    And last but not the least ..... these are the kind of sentences which make that 'fernweh' bite me really hard! Your description of the library, the people and the goings on there made me think of Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie all in one breath - the easy camaraderie of people is something I crave for these days.
     
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  7. PushpavalliSrinivasan

    PushpavalliSrinivasan IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Kamala,
    Thanks for sharing the experience and I envy people in US who got the opportunity to experience and enjoy the natural phenomena which rarely occurs.
    Full solar eclipse occurs rarely and in India since a long time we didn't have Solar eclipse.
    Being at the fag end of my life I won't get a chance to witness a Solar eclipse.
    PS
     
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  8. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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    Dear Kamala,

    Indeed what an incredible experience. I am completely with you when you say "writing this snippet was the hardest" It is one of those things that can only be experienced. Thank you for keeping us engaged days in advance of the eclipse. I think all that effort you made to move to a different place paid off. A friend of mine said that she was supposed to go to NC, but then couldn't and then later she heard that the cloud cover was so intense for those 12 minutes of peak! Weather can be so unpredictable! I am with you, the diamond ring and the corona are the two things that come to the mind's eye as soon as we close eyes, once we have seen it!

    Amazing! Wasn't it?
     
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  9. knbg

    knbg Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Wow Kamala maam...
    What a lovely,spectacular narration....I travelled with you ...was in the library waiting for the grand event ...and......experienced it with awe...all through your words....
    Amazing....
    Im still under the spell...
    Thankyou..!!
     
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  10. shyamala1234

    shyamala1234 Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Krish ,
    You took us there with you! Yes, this is an experience of soul! No words to describe . One has to feel. But you made us go with you and shared the marvellous experience.
    Got so many pictures on internet. But the best one was from Wyoming taken from a drone....gradual darkness, diamond ring and again light.
    Thank you very much.
    Syamala
     
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