Journey to Eclipse 2017 #eclipse #poem #astronomy #nature

[image error]Another Eclipse 2017 poem, inspired by my journey to the eclipse centerline in the Boise National Forest – hurray for America’s public lands. The path of totality was about 70 miles wide for this eclipse and crossed the continent. The difference between 99% and 100% totality is day and night. Even a sliver of the sun’s disk is too bright to look at naked-eye and loses the corona in the glare. Well worth the travel and deserving of a rhyme.

The car is packed, we could escape

A zombie apocalypse,

But on this trip instead we chase

A total solar eclipse.

Nebraska may be cloudy

So Idaho’s our bet.

We carry everything we need, for

The best view we can get.

From the mountains of New Mexico

Through ponderosa pine,

A partial isn’t good enough,

We seek the centerline.

On the plains of Arizona

Our camping gear’s a plus.

The centerline is farther north

And so push-on we must.

Keep the gas tank topped,

There could be short supplies

Cause people are converging

To gaze into the sky.

Blood red rocks of Utah,

The finest that we see,

We leave behind without a stop

To chase totality.

Squirrels chirp out their annoyance, as

In Idaho we climb,

To a forest meadow,

To the centerline.

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Eclipse camp

There’s time to lounge in camp

But First Contact will come soon

On the centerline

In the shadow of the Moon.

by Kate Rauner

Perfect conditions and a happy surprise – sunspots! It’s the bottom of the cycle so we weren’t expecting that. They don’t affect the eclipse – just add to viewing fun. Read more about the eclipse here.

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Projection of Sun shortly after First Contact

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: American west, eclipse first contact, my journey to the eclipse, poem, poetry, total solar eclipse 2017, travel