The solar eclipse feels momentous. The end of an era. The beginning of another. Of course, Max has left for college (wipes tears), and Dagny is the only child at home, so it's only natural to think these things but it feels somehow more important.
Is it any coincidence that this great American eclipse fell during the Octave of Mary's Assumption into heaven? I think not. Today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary. She is the Queen of heaven and earth, Empress of the Americas, and in the still moments when the sky darkened, I could hear in my heart, "Do whatever He tells you." I'm so full of my own ideas; I need to listen to Him, pay attention to what He would have me do. We need Mary's gentle but sure guidance leading us to her Son.
My phone camera doesn't quite capture the soft hues, but it never got as dark as I expected, I suppose because the corona still throws off tremendous amounts of light. I loved that what looked like the crescent moon, was actually the sun. My favorite part was when a tiny arc of the corona shone like a diamond. And the stillness/silence during the eclipse. The birds, frogs, and even crickets stopped chirping. All of us in wonder and awe of God's creation. There was a good article on this: https://stream.org/perfect-eclipses-coincidence-or-conspiracy/
Some beautiful pictures on the NASA website: https://www.flickr.com/groups/nasa-eclipse2017/pool/
And here are some random pictures from our summer. Michael and I typically go to the beach in the evenings after his work. The kids were usually working. It's very pleasant with not too many people and it isn't overly hot either. It was a rare evening that Max wasn't working so he joined us.
The cats are no longer kittens but own this space completely. They follow me around but keep their distance. The only time I can pet them is when they are terribly sleepy on my desk. So yes, precisely during writing time :) They are still frightened easily and disappear whenever the dog barks, which can be often with our neighbors doing a big landscaping project. I hope this winter I can train them to be lap cats.
Our summer's come to an end and it's a time of new adventures for all of us. And that's definitely momentous!
5 comments:
The eclipse must have been pretty spectacular there! Even here it was really special.
I hope Max has a great first semester and that you can adjust without too much pain to being a family of 3 + animals. :) Those kitties are huge! Ours already don't look like kittens, even though they're only 5 months old--but I'm grateful that they LOVE being cuddled and stroked. Whenever we walk in the front door, one of them will dash up to Mark (or sometimes me) and literally hug his leg at the knee, purring like mad. I need to get a video of it. :)
It was spectacular! I've never seen one and even the clouds were cooperative. Thank you for your good wishes for Max and us. We'll surely miss him and he'll miss the cats :)
Your kittens sound so cute and normal. And yes, you must post pictures or video for those of us who are missing it.
Wow! Even our PacMan-type eclipse was pretty special. I'm looking forward to the April 8, 2024 total eclipse.
I agree Barb. Even partials are special. I see that Austin, TX is in the path of the next totality so I just may have to go visit my sister then :)
Good to see y'all, especially as the eclipse glasses gang. DS took a bus to Henderson SC all the way from NYC just for the experience, and said it was awesome. Where I am it was only 76%, and overcast. So it felt like it was about to rain, and then it didn't.
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