Eclipse...
In 1992, when Ken and I first heard that there would be a total solar eclipse, with Cornwall and South Devon in the path of totality, in 1999, we immediately decided we must make plans to be there...
Then when Kai was born, in 1995, we decided it was time to get those plans made...
And then, in May 1999, far too late to seriously think we'd have any success, we started putting the plans into action...
And it worked...
Kai and I caught the train down to Exeter to visit with my folks on Monday August 9th, then travelled down to Babbacombe to Ken's folks the following day (Ken joined us there later).
The morning of August 11th 1999 dawned cloudless and sunny - but the sky soon clouded over... Nevertheless, determined to enjoy the occasion, whether we could actually see anything or not, both families assembled at the Taylor's. There was some debate as to whether to join the crowds on the Downs - we could hear the music from the party from a mile or so away! - or to stay in the garden. In the end, the garden won...
The clouds carried on rolling in. We missed first contact. Everyone sat in the lounge, drinking coffee, and Ken and I bounced in and out, checking for cloud breaks - and that's when we got our first glimpse...The cloud was light enough to see what was happening, but heavy enough that we didn't need our viewers - wonderful! The moon was covering about a quarter of the sun when the clouds first thinned: they carried on alternately thinning and darkening, so we saw the eclipse in bite sized chunks...
It was one of the most magical things I've ever encountered. Experiencing it in chunks probably made it even more exciting - we could never be sure what we'd see next. We watched, and watched, and my hair was on end the entire time (we'd actually been down on the beach when the event started - but I didn't need to see it to feel what was happening...)
The sky clouded over just before totality, so we missed the event in the sky. But on the earth, the temperature plummeted within seconds, until we were shivering. Everything went a dark, silvery, moonlit grey, and the clouds glowed silver from within, and everything was entirely still... It felt like the world held its breath. There was silence for the 39 seconds or so totality lasted (and ye gods you can really understand how absolutely terrifying eclipses must have been to human ancestors...) - then the clouds cleared just in time for us to see the diamond ring of third contact for just a fraction of a second..... Suddenly (and I do mean suddenly!) it was daylight again....
There really was a sense of relief - almost a sigh of deliverance as the sun reappeared. Modern day humans are obviously not so far removed from those primitive forebears as they like to think!And now I want to be a shadow chaser. The next total solar eclipse is summer solstice 2001, passing over Madagascar, and we're going to do our damnedest to be there...(And then there's Australia in 2002...)
