Totality, 1991
© Linda Lockett Eisele 1991
Standing
on the rear deck of the Norwegian cruise ship, Southward, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico, I stare through protective glasses for twenty seconds at a
tiny bite eaten out of the right side of the sun. Three sunspots are
visible in the lower hemisphere; two in the upper. Although it is hot beneath the sub-tropical sun, I wear a long-sleeved cotton shirt, broad-brimmed hat, long pants, socks, and sunblock 30 for protection. "You are up there, you ol' Moon. We can't see you, but there
you are in the noonday sky."
Small and close to the horizon, two cruise ships close the gap between us. White and romantic, we
race to stay within the circle of blue surrounded by thunderheads as our captains strive for the Center
Line. My brother, Brian, places the homemade square of styrofoam with silver film over a hole in its center over his longest
telephoto camera lens. We take turns looking at a magnified image of the sun in partial eclipse. A man with a very large telescope with silver film over the end lets us look at the
sunspots -- areas of relatively low temperature. The light grows
dimmer, like sunlight shining through smoke thrown high into the atmosphere from a distant forest fire, but not yellowish. The
air temperature sinks to pleasantly cool. "It's getting dimmer! It's getting cooler!"
As midday approaches, Brian and I think we see shadow bands -- rapidly-moving, wavy shadows -- however, away
from the heated air from the smokestack, they disappear. "Look
at this." The shadow of Brian's finger on the deck is defined with sharp edges. He turns his finger ninety degrees and the shadow becomes fuzzy along one edge.
Through protective glasses, only
a sliver remains of the sun. Amazingly, though the light is much-dimmed,
it is definitely daylight: a strange, dim daylight; not dawn; not twilight... unique; the strange, odd, disorienting period just before totality.
What a different planet this would be if the sun shone so dimly all the time!
What would grow? Would ice ages return? In ancient times, some peoples went
insane during total solar eclipses. During an ancient battle, when the sun
reached totality, the combatants stopped fighting and stared up in wonder. When
it was over, all remained quiet. The desire for combat gone, their armies dispersed.
In the last moments, the last minute, the last seconds before totality, I experience
the madness. The racing shadow is coming! I must see it. I overturn deck
chairs, desparately trying to reach the railing. My camera swings wildly
from my neck, colliding against an upturned chair. Extra clothes and magazines
scatter. The deck chairs stick fast. I
race from side to side, tugging, pushing, glancing frantically out to sea, panicked by the wall of thunderheads, already dark.
Night is upon them. I search the surface of the water for the racing darkness. Where is it? The sea is dark gray-green. I have become a primitive being, shouting, "Do you see the shadow? Do you see it?!" And then it is night.
I have missed the shadow. In the narrow
space between two upended lounge chairs, I look up. "Look up. Look up. Look up." There it is. Peace fills me. Joy. Wonder. Awe. Tears fill my eyes. There in the heavens is the most beautiful sight I have ever beheld -- impossible to describe. I never dreamed... The corona streams out around a perfect black disk ringed
with light; the sky not black like night, but like a blue jewel. I
am looking into the eye of God. I am not on this planet. I am somewhere far away in another solar system on a different Earth; humbled. Carefully, still looking up, I return the lounge chairs to their correct positions. Not taking my eyes from the beauty above, I lie down upon one of them, looking up. "I
see the prominences!" Like two rubies, one on either side, they are small but precious, arching a tiny arch within
the rarified white light of the corona which extends far, much farther than in any of the slides we have seen. It does not encircle the sun in a halo, but streams from the two sides, extending farthest near the
middle, smallest at the poles. My breathing slows. I float in an absolute peace of wonder. I wish with all my
heart that time will stop, now; that I can make this beauty last. Six minutes
and fifty-three seconds -- the maximum eclipse time. Here above me, at least
in this moment, I see what angels see; not forever; maybe never again, but now; here, now. I am hopelessy addicted, like an addict to his drug, and there is nothing in the world I can
do to make it stay.
Brian's binoculars pass between
us. Through them, the prominences are clearly visible, even the space within
their arches. He hands me the long-lense camera. Looking through it, the eclipsed sun appears much larger, but through these looking devices, the image
jiggles. I pass them on and look up at the naked beauty above. I snap three photos with my pitiful camera, the eclipsed sun shrunk to insignificance, a mere dot
within the aperture.
For the rest of the time, I gaze. I barely
notice the stars and planets. Thunderheads to the west are already in daylight. The loudspeaker announces: "Prepare to
see the diamond ring effect." "I see the diamond ring!" I shout ecstatically. A last, heightened beauty, the last visual gift of totality, the diamond of light breaks brilliantly, lasting a breath of time. Then, it is daylight. No transition. One instant night; the next, day.
I am up and running, Brian
ahead of me. We grab the railing on the far side of the ship and stare hard out
to sea, straining to see the racing shadow disappear. "Did you see it?!"
"No, did you?"
"No. Darn." It is over. I
walk across the deck, sit down on the end of my lounge chair, elbows on knees, hands dangling, chin sunk. I gaze, not seeing the artificial green carpet, the scattered white chairs, the shuffling people, feeling the immense, rare knowledge within, the intimate, personal knowledge of totality... already a memory,
but a living one. I glance at the
sun, grateful to the new moon, up there, too, the two of them together giving this feeling I want to hold
onto forever. Body and soul are flooded with the gift of peace. "I
will never, never be able to explain this to anyone," I whisper. Am
I saddened beyond belief or happier than I have ever been? Wonder washes over me. My sister points her camera. For a moment, I am aware there is a world. I hear the click. She walks away. I become lost, again, in the realm of totality.
An hour ago, we waited with tension, excitement, anticipation, looking through
protective glasses, marking the progress of the eclipsing sun. The same
process is being repeated in reverse, but the people disperse, no one bothering to look up. I look once or twice. Yep, there she is, our sun
partially eclipsed by the new moon. There is the crescent shape. After totality, this is nothing.
It has lost all its 'umpfh' and everybody knows it. I sit and sit. It is still dim, still cool, but growing brighter. I turn
my head. So still for so long, my body creaks when I try to use it.
Walking to my cabin, I cherish the feeling the eclipse has given me. It is mine, now. I know I will not be able to keep it
any more than I have been able to keep the eclipse. It will last maybe four or
six hours... this reality of peace on earth; this end to war. After that,
it will fade. I will carry part of it with me for a week, maybe, if I am
lucky. Then it will be gone. Sure,
I might get it back now and then for a moment, but it will never be like this again; never so strong... unless... I can get
to another ...somewhere, somehow. The longest total eclipse for the next
147 years.
If I do see another, I must look faster.
Though this eclipse lasted over six minutes, I cannot believe it was that long. These were the shortest six minutes of my life.