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Blog: The path of totality

Unless you are hiding under a rock, you’ve heard about this summer’s solar eclipse. Unlike my home in British Columbia, Oregon, USA was in the path of totality- where the sun would be 100 per cent covered.
eclipse

Unless you are hiding under a rock, you’ve heard about this summer’s solar eclipse. Unlike my home in British Columbia, Oregon, USA was in the path of totality- where the sun would be 100 per cent covered. So my family packed up the trailer, and headed south where we were lucky enough to experience the eclipse first hand while camping.

Every day in our campsite had been sunny and pleasant. But on the morning of the eclipse, we awoke to a thick blanket of fog that covered the valley. This was bad news for the eclipse. In a rising sense of urgency, my Dad rode for 40 minutes in our truck trying to find the edge of the fog. After no success, he decided it was impossible to outrun it and headed back. Luckily, within minutes of my Dad’s arrival (and the eclipse) the fog miraculously started to clear revealing a totally bright blue morning sky (that would soon become a night sky).

At first, just a sliver of sun was covered. As the dark spot grew larger, the temperature became noticeably colder. We could see our breath! I had to crawl into my sleeping bag! I had expected the sky to gradually become darker, but even with 98 per cent of the sun covered, it still appeared to be morning. Then, in what felt like a second, the light disappeared and shadow bands covered the ground. Shadow bands are an unexplained phenomenon during total solar eclipses when the ground appears to be blanketed in wriggling snake-like shadows.

Then it happened - the reason we had driven from our house in Ladner all the way to Oregon state. In the blink of an eye - the sun in the sky had been reduced to what looked like a celestial diamond ring in space, and the valley erupted in cheers.

For me, that was the best part. Not the eclipse itself, but the people. In a world that is filled with prejudice and hate, we are desperate for a reason to come together. Not on a side, not arguing about politics, but as friends in sharing a moment of awe. Hearing the entire state cheering together in unison was truly beautiful. The eclipse may have only lasted 1 minute and 59 seconds, but it has left an impression that will last a lifetime.