My Date with the Sun & Moon

Solar Eclipse 2017.

I wasn’t sure the weather would cooperate. North GA predicted clear skies until 1:00pm and then partly cloudy skies. Totality at 2:35:45 PM, lasting for 2 minutes, 34 seconds.

I hoped and prayed the clouds would part. We traveled a few hours north. Bumper to bumper a few times on the way, but mostly we were just scouring for a good place to park.Parking was full at Tallulah Gorge. I smiled. This landscape was so familiar. As a child I spent a few days every summer at a campground not too far north of Tallulah Gorge. Yearly family reunions were a highlight. I couldn’t help but think of my “Uncle Wit” as we roamed north looking for a place to gaze upward. He loved this place. He fished and camped, drawing the Jones family in, year after year. He loved my momma and loved her girls with tenacity that most uncles only dare hope they possess.

Billowy skies loomed in the distance. We rounded the corner heading toward the campground. Traffic cleared. We found ourself on a winding mountain road. We passed a few “prime” spots for parking and landed at an abandoned store on a country road. Fields to the south were perfectly beautiful & inviting. A family gathering could be seen in the distance, everyone wearing the latest fashion in eyewear.

I sat on the trunk of the car and used a mirror to see the beginning of the magic. The darkness continued to creep upon the light. I wasn’t really prepared for the feeling of wonder or the glow that emanated from behind the moon.

The whole world was “sunrise and midnight” combined. It was eery and yet ethereal; other-worldy and all things beautiful.

It was 2 min and 34 seconds of God’s glory.

Maybe these astronomical rarities are orchestrated to punctuate realities. Heaven sometimes does visit earth. As I looked upward near the place my family reunion convened year after year, I knew Uncle Wit was with me today, shining brightly.

What a glorious Monday #beautynearme.