i’m sure you’ve heard the hundreds of different stories of where everyone in the country spent their day during the GREAT AMERICAN SOLAR ECLIPSE. something about that name makes me laugh, it sounds almost commercialized? can you commercialize the sun? sounds wrong, but very patriotic.
anyways…i had the privilege of spending those 2 1/2 minutes of (partial) totality at my favorite place in the world. camp.
we hosted an event appropriately entitled “total eclipse of the pines” which made me belt out into bonnie tyler every time i heard it!! it was a day of fun, friends, and new experiences. over 900 people showed up to camp, swim, zipline, and try not to stare at the sun. there were even some really cool critters we got to see and even hold!!
working an event like this was so unique because it wasn’t something we had ever done before (i mean, COME ON!! once in a lifetime people!!) and i had an excuse to see all my cutiehead friends i miss ever so much. spending all day everyday with a group of people and then never seeing them is such a bittersweet feeling. it’s what makes those people special; although i do jump at any chance i get to hang with my peeps!
the moments leading up to the eclipse were the best part. we had all finished up our stations so collectively we migrated to a nice, sunny spot to catch a glimpse at this thing everyone had been talking about.
the news was there, everyone was happy and smiling: it was absolutely electric!! we probably sat there for thirty minutes buzzing with excitement and anticipation for what was to come, belting our voices out so loud, ignoring the thousand other people in the field staring at us like we’re crazy people.
and then it happened!! a countdown began as the crowd cheered on the moon, just doin’ its thing. leading up to this point, the sky began to dim. it was as if dusk had fallen; the bats even came out to see what all the commotion was about!!
totality was definitely worth all the hype. it’s so crazy to think something so rare can be tracked down to the second; the moon crossed over the sun right on queue!!
i am so glad i had the opportunity to see such a cool sight not only at my favorite place in the world, but with all of these people i love so dearly.
i hope you enjoyed this little snapshot at my eclipse experience.
happy sunday, y’all.
kendall