Monday, August 21, 2017

And Humanity Survived Another Solar Eclipse


So, the chickens did notice something was going on today. First the roosters decided it was time to have twilight sex. They chased hens all over the place. Then they all got quiet and hid in the plants and talked very quietly among themselves. I swear, it was a real conversation. And then, a little bit after the fullness of it happened, some of them went to roost.
After awhile they all came back out again and resumed their day and I could just imagine them saying, "So. Boy. That was weird."
It was weird. It actually made me anxious as if my ancient ancestors came forth inside me wondering what in hell was going on in the heavens and was this the end of the world and was a giant snake eating the sun? I honestly could not enjoy the whole deal because of that. It all just felt wrong, despite my modern human knowledge about what causes an eclipse and all of that stuff.
Just wrong.
I made my little viewing device from a Honey Nut Cheerios box, two index cards and some aluminum foil and was rather shocked to see that it worked. But I'd already been outside and cleaned the hen house and picked the garden and just being out in the heat again made me feel slightly nauseous so add that to the voices of the ancient ancestors and I just wanted it to be over.
Here's what I picked. I finally faced the field peas.


As well as some okra, some eggplant, and some zinnias. 
When Mr. Moon got home he said, "Did you dig any sweet potatoes?"
I just looked at him like, "Are you fucking kidding me? Fuck no."

He's shelling peas right now. He's actually faster at the chore than I am. Maybe I should go study his technique. 

Jason came over to help Mr. Moon move a pool table (or part of a pool table) into the old barn. He brought the kids and I asked Maggie if she wanted to put on one of her new dresses. I finished the sun dress today. She looked at them and said politely, "No."
She did, however, want an apple. 
Mostly she wanted her Boppa. 
When he came back into the house she lit up like Las Vegas at Christmas. 
"Boppa..." she sighs and holds her arms out to him and kisses him. 
It is real true love. 

Here's Owen in the new Rolling Stones t-shirt I ordered him because he's outgrown his old one. 
I was going to save it for his birthday but I just couldn't. Boppa wanted in on the picture. I sure do love those boys. 


That shirt is an adult small. I tell you what- that child is going to be taller than me before we know it. 
Like- by the end of third grade. 

So. That's what my eclipse day was like. The boys were thrilled by it and D. Trump looked at the sun naked-eyed and his wife looked extremely uncomfortable and because I am a mother, I won't say anything about Barron except that I feel so sorry for that child. Compare how Obama interacted with his children to the way DT interacts with his youngest son, which is to say- he doesn't. It's so disturbing. 
But there are hundreds of thousands of pictures today, I am sure, of people standing in groups and staring up at the sun with their solar eclipse glasses on, looking for all the world as if the alien invasion were taking place.

And oh! Weren't the crescent shadows after the event the best part of it? I didn't even know about this phenomena until Lily told me. And it blew my mind. I haven't even looked up the scientific explanation because I just want it to be magic. 



And according to my ancient ancestors, it is. 

Love...Ms. Moon



17 comments:

  1. Mr Moon shaved off his hair! He is a handsome man, with and without hair. I enjoyed hearing how the eclipse was in your world. In mine, I tried not think about it because my children were flying close to the sun in an airplane. I worried about weird air currents but my girl, once she got home, pronounced it the smoothest ride ever. Phew.

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    1. Well, he cut his hair and used the shortest blade on the cutter-thing. So yes, he almost shaved it.
      I would have been freaked out if my kids had been flying during the eclipse. Yet another reason for me to be anxious! I'm so glad they're all okay.

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  2. Great pictures of the shadows. Here the eclipse was eclipsed by
    overcast weather.

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    1. I thought ours was going to be too, but it cleared.

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  3. Yes! I posted about the crescent shadows too, after my friend Liz told me about it. Apparently any small opening, like between the leaves of a tree, creates the same effect as a pinhole camera and focuses the source of the light on the ground. That's how she explained it, anyway, and it makes sense to me and doesn't destroy the magic at all.

    Owen is getting so big!

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    1. It's all magic if you ask me, including Owen getting so big.

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  4. I just used 2 pieces of cardboard, one with the pinhole, tho other for the image, held one in each hand. Owen is getting so big. and yes they do get taller than us pretty quickly.

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    1. Good way to do it! The cereal box thing was pretty easy.

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  5. While I was using a colander to see the changes in the sun, I noticed the crescent shapes all over the porch. Fascinated me and I followed their changes throughout the process. Thoroughly enjoyed those two hours --- visiting your world.

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    1. Thank you, Ms. Roadtripper! I was mostly just glad when it was all over.

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  6. Your crescents are the best, and magical.

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    1. They truly were amazing and I did enjoy seeing them.

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  7. I tried to make cross bars with my fingers and it was pretty much like Trump looking directly at the sun🤕🤕🤕. Mr Moon DOES look handsome as does little big Owen. I'm hoping today is cooler for you!

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    1. I don't think it's going to be cooler for at least a few weeks. Mr. Moon suggested we go to the beach this weekend and I said, "No! It's too hot to go to the beach!"
      That's sad.

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  8. In AZ we barely even knew we were having an eclipse, it was just that uneventful here... but on TV the folks in Oregon sure seemed to have quite The Show of it, Amazing and Beautiful! I didn't know about the Crescent Shadows either!

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    1. If I hadn't known what was going on, I doubt I would have even noticed it. Except for the shadows. They were beautiful.

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  9. I freaked myself out about the eclipse by reading one of my favorite essays ever by Annie Dillard called "Total Eclipse." You should read it, and you won't feel so nuts about your feeling. I put on the glasses and looked at the partial eclipse we got down here, and it was pretty damn beautiful. I love feeling like a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.