I think I can totally get behind every part of camping (as long as there is a toilet)...except the sleeping. In my experience, I never sleep well when I'm camping! And that night in the Rounds' backyard was no exception. Danny said he slept pretty well, and so did the kids. Even Joey did pretty good! But I felt like I was awake all night, and so did my Mom. She's such a trooper though, and I'm so grateful she was willing to do all the craziness of this trip to experience the eclipse with us.
Never mind how tired the mamas were, the kids were bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready for all the adventures Larry could give them on the farm. They got to climb into the combine before meeting the horses, and Larry even arranged for them to get a quick ride around the pasture. Best. Morning. Ever!
The eclipse wasn't suppose to start (as in first contact between the sun and moon) until around 9:30 am, so we took down the tents and set up our day camp. Danny had made sure we had everything we needed...food, tables, chairs, games. Everything to make the morning comfortable and fun! But Johnny wasn't interested in comfort, he wanted to work with Larry. So when Larry told him to jump in the truck and help him with the pigs, Johnny didn't even say goodbye! For as much as Johnny loves Larry, Larry seems to have quite the affinity for our little Danny 2.0. They fed the pigs and Johnny even helped to catch a piglet and give it a shot. Johnny hasn't stopped talking about it since!
Finally the big show began! We all had our timer apps going, and our solar glasses out. The thing is...it kind of took forever for the moon to start to make a considerable dent in the light of the sun. So we mostly continued to hang out and would occasionally don our glasses and take a peak at the moon's progress. And we did our best to keep Joey from taking up a permanent residence in the pasture with the horses. This kid loves animals!
Danny and I had watched a YouTube video weeks before the eclipse, and we learned a lot about what we might experience...and what to watch out for. We were so excited to feel the temperature drop by as many as 20 degrees. We were really hopeful to see the elusive shadow bands, see Bailey's Beads, and even catch the glimpse of the diamond ring. With all of Larry's animals around, we were watchful for any change of behavior as that is something that happens as the animals think that night has come. It was going to be so exciting!
It took a while, but we definitely noticed the temperature had changed about an hour after first contact. And it didn't take long after that before we noticed we didn't need our sunglasses anymore. The light was muted, which was strange since the shadows hadn't changed. And as we looked at the shadows, we saw something else we had learned about but we hadn't been necessarily watching for. During an eclipse, if a tree's leaves are in the right direction, each leaf creates a pinhole camera. The eclipse is reflected via their shadow. Larry just happened to have a tree in the perfect place, and the shadow fell right on their white patio! It was amazing to see thousands of crescents the same shape of the eclipse at any given moment. So cool!
As totality neared, we got everyone ready. Because we were in the totality path, we would be able to remove our safety glasses for the duration of the time the moon completely covered the sun. Where we were, we would be able to view the eclipse with our naked eye for over two full minutes. Our app gave us audible indication as to what to watch for..including shadow bands. These only appear for about 30 seconds before totality, and at first we thought we were going to miss out on this phenomenon. Then Claire exclaimed, "Look! I see them!!" Sure enough, if you didn't focus too closely on one particular spot, you could see the rippling effect. As the seconds passed, the shadow bands became clearer and clearer and they really did look like thousands of wiggling snakes on the ground! We were so stoked...we saw shadow bands!! I also saw Bailey's Beads, which is when the light from the sun peaks through the crater-indentations in the moon's surface and it looks like a string of beads. It was incredible.
And then the countdown to totality chimed on our phones. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [BEEP, BEEP, BEEP] You may now safely remove your glasses". And we did...and the world had plunged into darkness. It was incredible, and honestly there are not words sufficient to describe what we experienced. The first thing I noticed was Joey was terrified. He grasped onto Sophie's leg as he looked around frantically. I picked him up and then looked around and noticed the 350-degree sunrise. It was beautiful, and incredible, and the most amazing thing I had ever seen! To that point. Because then I looked up at the sun. Even writing it down, remembering that moment...my heart is racing. The sun was black!! And the corona of the sun was a brilliant white light around it, whiter than anything I had seen before. It was a celestial moment, a moment when you see things differently because for a matter of seconds the whole world IS different. We could hear shouting and cheering from miles away, and we were right there yelling and hollering along with everyone else. We did notice, even in our excitement, that the birds had stopped their songs. We looked up and saw stars in the sky...at 11:00 am! It was the most amazing, incredible, profound, exhilarating, awe-inspiring two minutes of mine and Danny's lives. And while time seemed to stop while we noticed everything around us, that two minutes passed entirely too quickly! I did have the presence of mind to snap one picture of the sun with my phone. I'm glad I did. While there are definitely better pictures, this image will always sharpen my memory of that amazing event.
And then our app told us to prepare to put our glasses back on. We did, and we watched as the sun peaked through and the world was instantly light again. Danny and I stood together with goosebumps on our arms and electricity running through our veins. And we swore that if we ever have the opportunity to get to the totality path of a solar eclipse, we would never let that opportunity pass us by. We just HAVE to experience that again!
And that was that. As things gradually became lighter and warmer, we started packing up and preparing to leave. But we weren't leaving until the moon had completely cleared the sun...we're Calls, and just like football games we stay to the end of eclipses, too! ;) We did notice shadow bands during those few seconds after totality, and our pinhole camera images all flipped around with the reflection of the waning eclipse. It was just all so cool!!
Waiting for the eclipse to finish gave us about an hour and half to spend hanging out with Larry and Karen while we slowly packed up. The kids loved hanging around Larry's! And I dare say Larry loved having them hang out. He even put Joey on the dirt bike! :)
Danny and I will forever be so grateful that we spent that most amazing experience with Larry and Karen. Larry was such a blessing in Danny's life, and as I think back on our day with them it reminds me of that feeling I had in Nauvoo. I can feel how it will be when we cross the veil and can see with fuller vision the relationships we have with the people in our eternal lives. It was no coincidence that Danny decided to do the Badger Creek program, or that Larry was his advisor. The Lord lovingly places the people we need in our path, and we feel fortunate we could soak up that heavenly friendship with this fantastic couple for the day. We just love them to pieces, and I'm sure we'll spend another day on the farm soon!
We knew traffic was going to be a mess heading south back to Utah, and as we got on Highway 20 and started heading back to the cabin we were very happy with our decision to wait until the next day to head south. Traffic was heavy and stretched on for miles! Our way was mostly clear, but as we got moving we hit congestion as well. It took us a little over three hours (double the usual time) to get back to the cabin, but it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately the cabin was locked when we got there, and Great Grandma was with Russ, Janet, and Michael...sitting in gridlock traffic. They were hours from getting back to the cabin! Luckily, way back in the day Danny bought a ladder that still resides in the garage at the cabin. So naturally he used it to break into the cabin. :)
It was definitely the right decision to extend our trip another day and have one more peaceful night at the cabin. We were mostly packed already, so we didn't have much to do in order to be ready to leave the next morning. We had promised Johnny over and over again that we'd do smores...so that's exactly what we did with our evening. The weather was perfect, and the smores were sticky and delicious. The absolute perfect way to end an absolutely perfect adventure-packed weekend!
Tuesday morning we packed the suburban and cleaned the cabin. It's always so hard to leave, and it's always hard for Great Grandma to have us go. It's such a special thing to get to be there with her. Great Grandma and my mom really had a good time talking, and Great Grandma "loved" watching Joey "experience" (aka destroy) the cabin. It was such a perfect getaway, and we made some of our most favorite memories ever during this trip.
And we already can't wait to get back!!
No comments:
Post a Comment