My grandkids had warned me that we might observe some unusual animal behavior yesterday afternoon, but the only unusual behavior I observedwas a group of small people running around in the dark shouting "The totality! The totality!"
Earlier in the day the little adorables were figuring out how old they'll be in 2044 when the next total solar eclipse comes our way. The smallest will be 26 and the oldest over 30, which seems impossible, but I didn't want to mention how old I'll be in 20 years because who knows if I'll be in any condition by then to don silly glasses and look at a sliver of sun?
So I'm glad I took a day off to observe the totality with my grandkids. We sat on a grassy hill near their house, a steady breeze blowing their kites high into the sky and producing festoons of bubbles from their bubble wands. We started off in t-shirts but donned sweaters and blankets as the sky drew darker, the wind cooler. Periodically my son-in-law made videos of the kids serving as amateur reporters, describing the sun as looking like a Pac-Man or a fingernail, predicting what would happen next, telling a topical joke: "How does the moon give the sun a haircut? 'E clips it!"
When the disc of the moon slid over the sun, the kids whooped and danced with abandon in the shadowless dark while I soaked in their infectious excitement. This week on campus I have quite a lot on my plate, including some stressful meetings and tasks demanding patience, insight, and self control, so just for a moment it felt good to be in the presence of unfettered glee. I'll be drawing on that reserve of energy for a while, but I doubt it'll last until the next eclipse arrives.
Are we having sun yet?
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