Total Eclipse of the Barn
Meeting the sun god in Vermont.
You may already be tired of hearing about the total solar eclipse that occurred here in North America recently. Some people were so disinterested in the eclipse that they unfollowed us on Threads. It's possible I was too enthusiastic about it there. But I realized anyone who hasn’t experienced totality won't know what I now know.
This is my account of what occurred a week ago today on April 8th, 2024, which I'm sharing because I've found myself recalling totality over and over again and it's now my firm belief that everyone must experience a total solar eclipse at least once in their life.
ECLIPSED EXPECTATIONS
As chance would have it, the path of totality passed directly over Diana's brother's house on a farm in Vermont. We reserved his family's guest room two years ago and had been eagerly anticipating this moment.
From a photography perspective, I had experienced a partial solar eclipse in England as a teenager and remember the light turning an eerie yellowy-green on what I seem to recall was a cloudy day. So that was my only frame of reference, and it informed my only goal this year which was to somehow capture this shift in light, rather than the eclipse itself. I'm not an astrophotographer and I didn't want to try (and probably fail) to shoot the eclipse, and then not be present for the headline act up in the sky.
Knowing the light would notably change either side of day becoming night, I settled on a scene featuring a barn across a pond and began a timelapse video on the iPhone. But the eerie light didn't really materialize as expected. Perhaps that is unique to partial eclipses on cloudy days. For us, the shadows changed and the light dimmed, before rapidly disappearing almost entirely.
Surrounded by trees and with no clear view of the eclipse, I made some photographs of the barn in the moments leading up to totality, until wild whoops of elation began to echo across the landscape. The neighbors and their friends had gathered in the fields nearby. It was happening. I ran to the open lawn on a wooded slope where our family were gathered. It was now safe to remove our eclipse eyewear, and there it was.
SUN GOD
This was not simply the moon passing in front of the sun. This was a giant iris looking down on us. An all-seeing eye that felt incredibly powerful. I am not a religious person so I don't say this lightly, but this was something like a religious experience. Our place in time evaporated. The looming presence in the sky made it incredibly easy to imagine what a total eclipse must have felt like thousands of years ago. If your afternoon sun suddenly turned into a colossal eye in a blackened sky I think you would take a profound significance from that and forever regard the sun as your deity. I'm pretty sure I would.
We had over three minutes of stunning, unforgettable totality. The skies were almost completely clear, with just a few thin wispy clouds.
From our vantage point on Earth we were literally seeing the solar system there before us. The Sun, the Moon, Jupiter, Venus, all right there like a model in a science classroom.
IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW (IYKYK)
I have subsequently learnt that total eclipses are all about what you know, and what you don't know. Until you experience one, you simply don't know. How could you?
If you've never experienced a total eclipse you'd be justified in doubting whether it's really worth traveling out of your way to go and see one. It is. In fact, you must. I would go so far as saying that observing a total solar eclipse should be mandatory for everyone. If mind-expansion interests you, it's essential.
recently wrote about the taxonomy of eclipse photography as per a cartoon by Randall Munroe. In my opinion there was one notable omission, which I will call The Context. These are photographs that include something else in the frame which grounds you and provides scale. An excellent example of The Context is this photograph below by Gaétan Cormier.
Gaétan shared his photograph on his Threads account and I immediately related to it – the tree line in the foreground echoed our own view in Vermont and his image captures that sense of the 'eye'. I love this photograph and I know that Gaétan takes direct orders for prints, so if you appreciate it as much as I do you should contact him.
In hindsight I should have tried to make a photograph like Gaétan’s that would serve me better as a memory of what I actually witnessed. But if you don't know, you don't know (IYDKYDK). Maybe next time. We are already talking about traveling to either Iceland or Spain in 2026. I suppose we are total eclipse-chasers now.
Lastly, if you've never experienced totality you don't really know that experiencing darkness during the day is probably only 25% of the spectacle. Yes, the birds say goodnight to each other and fall quiet. The mosquitos come out, the frogs start calling and temperatures plummet. I was anticipating this brief journey into the night world. What I wasn't prepared for was the remaining 75% – the awe, elation, disbelief, emotion, the sense of insignificance, that hint of malevolence, but also not wanting it to end. It's hard to do it justice with words. You’ll just have to see one for yourself.
So that was my experience of totality. If/when you see a total eclipse for yourself, I look forward to hearing all about it.
Addendum:
- For anyone that wears glasses, these eclipse cards provided by Vermont Astronomical Society and the Chmela Estate were really good. Try to get hold of something like this if you can. Not having to deal with awkward eclipse eyewear over your glasses was great.
- Apparently some people aren’t aware that if you are in the band of totality it is safe to remove your protective glasses during totality. Make sure you do!
- 10 rookie mistakes first-time eclipse-chasers make (and how to avoid them)
So glad Gaétan got such a great shot of the context of the eclipse so I can feel 100% justified in not taking any photographs on the day!
From my vantage point in Eastern Ontario, the clouds came out just as the eclipse was getting going and only cleared after the event was over. I did manage to get a few shots and the day was not without its rewards, even though it turned out completely different than expected. It took me almost a week to sort it all out (especially my emotions) and to publish my experience in my substack yesterday. It is great to hear about how others experienced the event. And yes, that hint of malevolence. I felt that too. All in all, very humbling.