Solar Eclipse — What You DIDN’T See By Looking Up

Lisa Twining Taylor and I just got back from a magical bike ride on the Orting Trail during this morning’s solar eclipse.

 

And yes, there will be a few images about a foot down the page to accompany this flailing attempt to describe the indescribable with mere words.

 

I built a solar eclipse viewer out of a cereal box, packed it carefully into my backpack, and up we went.  We arrived at South Prairie at about 9:55; in our area, it was reported that the sun would be as fully obscured by the moon’s shadow as it was going to get (about 93% ) in Orting between 10:20 and 10:21. Realizing we had 25 minutes to get partway back down the trail by the time it reached 93%, we remounted our bikes and headed downhill, planning to pull out the eclipse viewer a few minutes earlier than 10:21 on a sunny part of the trail and watch the celestial display from there.

 

As we headed back down to Orting, the quality of the light (which had been bright, clear, full morning sun) began to change. It grew dimmer by the minute. Before long the trail before us looked as it would on a cloud-covered early fall afternoon as dusk fell–as if night was about engulf us and leave us stranded in almost-total darkness.  It was very eerie, even though we knew the situation would just be momentary; no need to get anxious.  Still… my body reacted “as if,” feeling a little unsettled even by this expected morning-time anomaly.

 

We got to a sunny spot on the trail and dismounted. I pulled out the viewing box. It wasn’t working.  Apparently the clear plastic tape that I had placed over the tin-foiled area (not part of the design) to protect the tinfoil hole during the trip in my backpack was causing the problem.

 

Disappointed? Not only that!  I was feeling guilty for “screwing up” the one thing that was supposed to allow us to safely view the eclipse! But there was nothing we could do about it. So we got back on our bikes and headed down the trail into the trees.

 

Then I saw it. I had read that tree-lined natural surroundings would allow viewing of the eclipse without looking up at the sun. But I had no idea how that natural fact was about to surprise and stun us.

 

I pointed out to Lisa what I’d read about the phenomenon and what I was seeing. She looked closer and her mouth fell open.

 

The shadows from the leaves and other foliage that stood between us and the sun took on elliptical shapes, exactly reflecting the sun/moon coverage ratio.

 

So instead of seeing a single image in the bottom of a cereal box, we were being flooded with a kaleidoscope of hundreds–no, tens of thousands–of various-sized eclipses.  It was as if we’d suddenly been transported to a different world.

 

We’d never seen anything like it before–and never will again.

 

Lisa took pictures.  I called one view “the peacock” because it reminded me of a peacock’s tail.  She snapped a photo of it. I hope it comes out…

First Two Images:

Shadows on the trail at about 10:23 a.m.

during the fullest (darkest) part of the eclipse in our area

Shadows on the trail several minutes later…

“The Peacock”

 

Documenting our presence… (Lisa Twining Taylor)

Me…

All photos: copyright by, and courtesy of, Lisa Twining Taylor

Featured image courtesy of Pixabay

 

The whole world became a fractal delight for miles.. . I insisted that we stop and take pictures of us with the “eclipse” at our feet. I wanted proof.  I wanted our friends and family and the people of the world to see what they missed by looking up through solar glasses instead of looking down at the images that were being shown on the ground for the first time in nearly two generations.

 

The sad thing is that there were very few people on the Orting Trail during the eclipse. Maybe they thought they had to be out in the open to experience it to best effect. Certainly we thought that…

 

Here’s the real serendipity: If my eclipse box had worked, we would have missed the real light show, too! 

 

In case you did, here are images of what we saw.  They’re something no one should miss!

 

Save

Save