With the hoopla surrounding today's total eclipse of the sun which will be seen in parts of North America, I couldn't help but think back to the last solar eclipse to hit the continent in February 1979.
At the time, I was six years old and was living in Victoria, British Columbia. My Dad was on sabbatical that academic year so we temporarily relocated to Western Canada from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Now Victoria wasn't directly in its path as other parts of the Pacific Northwest were in Washington and Oregon. But we were close enough to it that it was necessary to take precautions.
Frankly, the whole episode scared the hell out of me. We were sternly warned both at home and at school if we looked at the sun we would go blind. The experience of moving to a new city and a new school was enough anxiety. I didn't need to be blinded for life. Now I don't remember if school was cancelled that day or merely delayed, more likely the latter. But what I do remember from that February is having our curtains drawn while watching the whole spectacle on television. I don't remember anything else from that day other than the fact that I was relieved when the thing was over.
Nearly forty years later, I feel a similar trepidation. Although Boston is far from its path (the nearest path on the East Coast is in South Carolina) I want no part of it. I am staying indoors with the curtains drawn. Two or three minutes of spectacle isn't worth a lifetime of darkness.
Yes, there are special glasses with which one can safely view the eclipse, but a lot of those glasses are total frauds. It's simply not worth the chance. I don't deny there's a certain beauty and wonder about it. Appearances, however, are deceiving. I choose to look the other way.
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