When the Sun Was Veiled

The expected was about to happen. That's what was so intriguing. Like Deanne said in answer to Mom's question:

 "How do they know exactly when the eclipse is going to happen?"
 "A God of order."

I love that.

We drove three hours south to be able to see the eclipse in totality.

The question, "Why are we doing this again?" was niggling in the back of my mind as I groggily got ready for the day at 5 A.M. I tried to sleep in the middle of Dad's crazy driving and Mom and Dea joining in with joking and talking.

Sleep would have to wait.

The excitement grew as we drove through Wind River Canyon. The rocks rose far above our heads. I gazed out the windows in awe.

The closer we got to totality, the more people that we saw. They were parked in fields and ditches. People roamed through the small town of Shoshoni for no other reason than that the sun would be covered up for two minutes.

After finding cinnamon rolls and coffee we headed to an over-populated hillside and waited for the moon to veil the sun. And we waited. And we waited. The day was getting hot. We opened the car doors and stuck our feet out. We all had our books or devices to make the time go faster.

Once we saw the first chunk taken out of the sun we got a bit more interested in the sky. Everyone did. There were a few whoops from the others on the hillside. Then we waited a bit more, passing the one pair of glasses from one person to another so we could all get a glimpse.

Then it happened. Very slowly, the air around us grew cooler. The people quieter. The sun only looked like a little fingernail moon through the dark lenses. The sky behind us became darker and darker and the last bit of sunlight was swallowed up by the moon. I was spinning around, not knowing what to look at next.

The light bent and streamed around the moon, creating rays in the darkened sky. The horizon, which we could see in full circle was framed in pink. Lone stars shone from the deep blue sky.

All on the hillside were in awe. There was a sense of community as we enjoyed this wonder together.

As the light quickly overtook the moon, we put our things away and drove down the hill.

Lives forever affected by the wonder and order of God's hands.  



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