Total Eclipse

“Worth seeing, but not worth going to see.” _Dr. Samuel Johnson

According to Astronomy.Com a total eclipse of the sun by the moon occurs at the same location, on average, once every 375 years.

Amazingly, I have witnessed two such eclipses over the last decade (not in the same place).

I must admit that it is a memorable and eerie experience.

But what is surprising to me is the effort and expense that people put into witnessing this rare event.

I had a lot of time to think about this effort and expense on the most recent eclipse for, of all things, Sonja and I were making our way back to Illinois from South Carolina on the day leading up to the eclipse and on the day of the eclipse.

The traffic was a nightmare most of the way adding several hours to the trip. Bumper to bumper we creeped along making our way forward to witness approximately three minutes of darkness.

Was it worth it?

You’d have to ask the thousands of people who, at great expense and effort, rearranged their entire lives to witness it.

All I know is that it is a mystery to me why people will put so much effort into witnessing a three minute natural phenomenon and give little to no thought about how and where they will spend eternity.

Photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash