Total Eclipse of the Heart

Tomorrow, apparently, we in the UK are going to have a 97% solar eclipse. Evidently, as the moon covers the sun, it will get darker the further North you go, but that has always been the case. I heard the ubiquitous Professor Brian Cox on the radio this morning suggesting that being in an eclipse is like being on another planet. He also suggested the theme tune should be David Bowie's "Starman". A female commentator said it should be Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", which does seem more appropriate.

I have only once before experienced an eclipse. It was many yeas ago in Costa Rica where I was driving along the Western coast with Emily Fisher. The Pacific Ocean was peerless blue and eternal in the bright sunshine, lush rain forest swept down from the hills, almost to the sea and Emily was gorgeous in her summer dress, tawny hair shrouding her shoulders like the palm trees on the beach. It was a perfect moment.

Then it started to get dark. Inexplicably; it was mid afternoon. I stopped the car and we got out into the quickly darkening world. It felt as if God himself had drawn the curtains. Even the orchestral insects went quiet, stilled by the sudden night. Only the waves made a sound as they continued to crash onto the beach.

Emily and I were a little awed, huddling together like children.
"It's an eclipse," I said in hushed wonder, not daring to break the silence. Emily's arms were tight around my shoulders, her hair caressing my neck. It was too much to resist. I gently turned her and bent her over the car's bonnet, sliding the hem of her dress up to reveal another pale moon.
"You're incorrigible," she whispered, which sounded bad. But not that bad; she didn't deter me.

Happy Eclipse, everyone.

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