A Total Solar Eclipse

There are certain experiences in life you anticipate for years knowing it will leave a mark...  a first kiss, flying in an airplane, seeing the ocean for the first time, driving through Yosemite, holding your firstborn baby... 

And then there are those experiences that you overlook... almost miss out on... until something aligns at the last minute that forces you to be still and discover.

During the summer, I started hearing noise about Knoxville being right in the line of the total solar eclipse happening on August 21st. It really meant very little to me. As the date got closer, there was more and more talk. Charlie's class was taking a field trip. Sam would be at school. Luke would be home with Richie. I would just be at work. 

Then Knox County cancelled school. 
Then Charlie's class cancelled their field trip because it was unsafe due to all the expected visitors in the area.

The hype was getting bigger.

My whole family was going to be together to experience it and I wouldn't be with them.

Something inside me said "no".

I decided to take the day off work.

It was my single best decision of the whole year.

It was quite possibly the most awe inspiring, unforgettable, surreal experience of my life. I almost missed out on seeing it with my kids.

Our neighbors, Court and Marie, invited us to his parents' farm in Friendsville. 

We arrived about 2 hours before totality. It was very cool to look through our glasses at the moon's shadow creating a crescent shaped sun.

What became more interesting was the cast of the light that came from a partially covered sun - and the shadows that appeared all around us.

It was similar to the lighting at sunrise or sunset, but the partial light was coming from overhead - instead of from the horizon.

As it got closer to totality, the anticipation and excitement were contagious.

Automatic lights turned on around the house because of the darkness...  katydids started singing... birds were chirping all around us...
It was dusk - at 2:30 in the afternoon.

And then for a minute, we could look up at the sun with no glasses - because it was completely covered by the moon... and it created a breathtaking halo in the darkness... like a diamond ring.

Then slowly, it moved away - and it started to feel like sunrise...
Shadows from the crescent sun look like this on leaves...

And the Hatcher family looks like this...

So, my point is, when something natural is about to happen that only comes once or twice in a lifetime - don't ever hesitate to make it a priority. God shows us miracles every day - some of them are so spectacular that the whole world notices... and you kind of have to drown out the hype and make it your own.