"Total Eclipse of the Sun"

America's Total Eclipse of 2017, has come and gone. A few thoughts follow:

Because totality encompassed a great swath of Oregon, the hype hitting us for the past many months has been nothing short of overwhelming. It's over now and a sense of emptiness prevails. But what a day!

Eclipse Morning

8:30 a.m. Tom McCall Waterfront Park

This beautiful summer eclipse morning, I left my home early (8:30 a.m. is early for me!) and walked the three blocks to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, a perfect location with a full-sky vista spread along the shores of the Willamette River. Surprisingly, only a handful of eclipse viewers were there early. I settled in, set up my parade chair, and sipped at my thermos of coffee. I noticed eclipse viewers arriving in boats, kayaks, stand up water boards, walking (like me), many with parade chairs and blankets, with helicopters watching it all from above. I checked that I still had those eclipse viewers in my pocket, and texted a few friends that I was "on location!" I took the requisite "selfie" to share with the world, and noticed everyone else was doing the same or simply conversing on their iPhones.

"Selfie"

As I watched, more and more viewers arrived --- wearing a variety of fashion "eclipse wear": hats, casual tee-shirts, flip flops, and a few office workers taking time off for the big event sporting high heels, suits and ties. Several pediatricians stood around me, close to my carefully selected spot, with  name tags and home towns listed. They mentioned they were attending a pediatrician convention at the hotel across the street, and delighted to find themselves in the midst of  "eclipse mania." All around me, fancy cameras were being set up on tripods, picnic blankets were being spread, and eclipse-viewer glasses were being tested. By 9:45 a.m. (only an hour after I arrived) the park was well filled.

Eclipse Morning

About 10:00 a.m.

(Notice sun shadows getting longer)

There was no great communal "AHHH" as the eclipse began. Everyone just stood around talking and visiting. But at about 9:50, I became curious to see if anything was happening above. I put on my OMSI certified (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) sun-viewing glasses and turned my gaze directly at the sun. That first look was astonishing --- as through those special OMSI lenses the sun looked like a huge glowing cookie, with a small bite taken out of the corner.  I was glued to watching that first nibble get bigger and bigger as the moon ever so slowly gobbled up that sun. This was not on TV, or in a movie, or in National Geographic. It was happening now and in front of my eyes!

photo by Twitter Account @depressedDarth

As advertised, at approximately 10:17 a.m. the sun (in Portland) was very close to being obliterated by a hungry moon. From where we were watching, there was not quite total coverage of the sun, not total darkness, just a cool breeze wafting through the park in a very dim twilight. The only thing visible on the sun was a sliver or fingernail of light left glowing on the upper perimeter of what was an orb. The downtown street lights clicked on, and the sun, oh so gradually, began to return as those cookie bites got smaller and smaller.

A few miles south on the Interstate 5, in the Salem area, viewers were treated to a full eclipse view with coronal outbursts visible. From the photos I have seen, it looked crazy and wonderful! I'm a little bit regretful that I didn't ignore the hype and went south, and braved the horrendous traffic to experience the total effect.

photo shared by Sharon Maroney

taken by John Kim with

Grandma Gerda's

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS50

So, those of you still stuck in major traffic jams, I'm wondering if you think the once in a lifetime eclipse reality was worth the time, effort and expense. Travel time from Salem to Portland this afternoon is from 2 to 3 hours, with usual drive time being 45 minutes. The elapsed time for totality was about two minutes. But it took about a half hour to watch the moon devour the sun and about another half hour to watch the moon retreat. I'm waiting to see if the overwhelming "hype" will pay off in terms of money coming into our state. And more importantly, will eclipse people return here to see and experience the many great and beautiful things that Oregon has to offer as a result of this brief and historic moment when the moon covered the sun.