Tuesday, August 29, 2017

The Heavens Declare: Great American Eclipse 2017



The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard. 
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which come out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Psalm 19:1-6

Just over one year ago, I learned that our farm lay in the path of totality for the Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017. I marked it on our calendar and anxiously awaited the day. Because of this exciting celestial event, I chose to focus on astronomy this year for our science lessons. What a way to kick off a new subject at the beginning of a new school year, right?! 

Our local media really hyped up the eclipse. They kept projecting that it would bring tens of thousands of people flooding into the cities and towns along the path of totality through our state. Accommodations for tourists were nonexistent, being booked up more than a month prior. Traffic was expected to be so bad on the day of the eclipse that I was literally having nightmares that we were stuck on the highway in bumper to bumper conditions with complete cloud cover for totality!

We had planned to try to drive up to a small town in Kentucky that was right on the line of longest duration and look for a church parking lot or park to watch from. This town was in the middle of  2 smaller highways that we knew we could hop on to "chase" the eclipse if our spot got clouded out. We hoped to avoid the crowds and traffic this way.

Several weeks before the eclipse we began to read books and watch documentaries explaining how an eclipse happens, what to watch for, and learned eclipse terminology such as "Bailey's Beads, Diamond Ring, and Shadow Bands". We acted out the beautiful celestial dance our planet, moon, and sun are forever taking part in as they move in space. We "acted out" a solar eclipse with a flashlight and fruit. It was a lot of fun and we became very excited as we anticipated the actual event.



The kids and I thought it was ironic how many times people in the news, on the documentaries, and even the books we read kept saying the same thing. That it is the most amazing "coincidence" that we can even see a solar eclipse at all! 

A solar eclipse is one of the ways that creation (nature) testifies of its Creator. It is simply not logical to suggest that all of "this" came about by a series of coincidental circumstances or accidents. It was lovingly designed and scheduled by a generous benefactor. And we all know this to be true, whether or not we would like to admit it. Romans 1:20-21 says that we are all are able to glimpse the attributes of God which can be clearly seen in nature, namely, God's eternal power and divine nature. If you're interested, here is a great article that dives more deeply into this concept.

Within the first ten minutes of watching Countdown to the Eclipse, a documentary you can find on Amazon, we heard the following statements:

"The fact that a total solar eclipse is possible at all is due to our special position in the solar system." 

"Although the moon is much smaller than the sun, it's also much closer to us. And, in fact, it's about 400 times smaller but it's also 400 times closer. So, when we look at how big they appear in the sky they are about the same size." 

"It's an amazing coincidence that the apparent size of the sun and the moon in the sky is almost equal. On any other planet, that's not true. In fact, that must be a rare occurrence throughout the galaxy." 

It is not a coincidence at all. Each solar eclipse is hand-crafted by God Himself. The Lord, who created the heavenly bodies on the fourth day and set the moon and planets in orbit, created this amazing eclipse we were so blessed to witness. The Psalms are full of references to the sun, moon, and stars bringing God glory. Psalm 148:3 says, "Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light!" And Psalm 89:5 says, "The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord." As the sun and moon, and even the stars and planets we were able to see, were praising God so were we! How awesome is this God, who is grand enough to create such beauty and detail and yet would stoop to love such wretched creatures as we humans are. And that is exactly why He is so deserving of our love, devotion, and honor.

"We love because He first loved us." -1 John 4:19

In the week before the eclipse, Josh helped me by researching and creating solar filters for our cameras and binoculars. He also shopped for our picnic lunch. The kids helped me gather and pack the food, blankets, chairs, and educational materials we planned to take with us. Just before leaving, I rushed over to the chicken coop to put up the trail cam on a nearby maple tree. I was hoping to catch the confusion of our feathered friends as the sun "set" and "rose" within mere moments at 1:30 in the afternoon. Once the animals were well-fed and watered, we were buckled in and heading north.

We changed our plans last minute as we watched the weather forecast changing moment to moment. We decided that our best chance was to head towards Springfield, TN. I was not feeling well and was hoping to not have to deal with the crowds they were expecting there so, as we neared the town, I was desperately searching for good areas to park. We ended up unintentionally driving through Springfield, and when we saw how empty it was, kept right on going. Where was everyone for this once-in-a-lifetime event? 






I saw a sign for the county fairgrounds and suggested that it might be a good place to set up camp. Josh turned to follow the sign. That's when we saw a great big church up on a hill with a great view. I knew there would be a nice breeze coming up that hill and the grass looked so soft and inviting. Once glance at each other and it was settled. 

We were quickly given permission to view the eclipse from the hill behind the church building and even generously invited to use the restroom inside as needed. They were very kind to us there at North Springfield Baptist Church. 

Everyone unloaded the van and helped get set up. Even Gideon helped carry things up the hill. James, Josh, and I set up our canopy and then the girls helped me spread blankets and put up lawn chairs. Once we were settled and everyone had eclipse papers to color and write on, two sweet ladies joined us. We learned that they lived very close to us even though we were easily an hour away from home! I don't think that we would have had such an enjoyable experience if they weren't there with us that day. We exchanged phone numbers, shared our eclipse photos with them, and made plans to have them over for a visit sometime soon. 

I was surprised at how well Gideon did with keeping his glasses on each time he looked up at the sun. It had really concerned me that he would not want to use them, but he did great until about 5 minutes before totality. I think there was so much excitement, he just simply forgot. He's such a curious child that he just HAD to look at what everyone else was jabbering on about and forgot to hold the glasses over his eyes. I reminded him and helped him as best as I could while nursing Job to keep him from staring at it a well. Josh was set up about 15 feet away from us taking photographs of the whole thing. He managed to take several hundred pictures. All of the eclipse photos in this blog are his. 


The thing that struck me most about viewing the eclipse was how eerie the light was just before and after totality. It really felt like something out of a science fiction movie. Naturally, it was like nothing I had ever seen before since this was my first eclipse. We also observed something that we found to be quite amazing. The afternoon had been very hot, in the 90's. You could hear the insects chirping and buzzing, telling everyone how warm it was in the grass. But as soon as the eclipse began and the temperature started to drop a bit, those bugs stopped making noise and the crickets began to sound! Also, we had not seen any birds until the eclipse began. Once the moon had just started to shade the sun we noticed quite a number of barn swallows swooping low over the hill looking for bugs to eat. 

The whole thing was over so quickly. Our farm sat on the very edge of path of totality. I am very glad that we didn't stay home because while we would have been able to see it, our experience would have been significantly shorter.



When we did arrive home Josh and I were really excited to look at our pictures and see what the trail cam captured while we were away. We were very pleased with many of the shots Josh took with my Nikon using his solar filters. Unfortunately, something went wrong when I set up the trail cam and it did not capture any video. I was forced to ask the chickens directly about their experience but they wouldn't tell me a thing. Who knew chickens were so secretive?

Our family is already planning a vacation so that we can travel to see the next one to occur in the United States! 

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?" -Psalm 8:3-4


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