From darkest shadow toward bright future

Did you see it? Last weekend there was an Annular Eclipse over part of the United States. An eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, causing the light from the sun to be blocked from our view. This eclipse was not a total solar one; the moon was not “large” enough to fully block out the sun (it depends on where it is in its orbit, nearer or farther from us).

I love eclipses! However, I was so tired on Sunday I didn’t want to go downstairs to look. We didn’t have anything to view it with, like welder’s glass or a pinhole camera, so my husband was poking a hole in a piece of paper and trying to project the image onto the ground. It wasn’t working.

As I sat at my computer desk, I suddenly noticed a bright line against the file cabinet beside me - what a fluke! My window blinds have small circles where the cord runs through them. I was getting the solar show projected right inside my own apartment! When I walked into each room, I could see it on the walls, floor, and even the bed.

A line of 'eclipses' projected on my file cabinet.

I’ve seen a total solar eclipse. In 1991 my grandfather, who was an astro-photographer and liked to chase comets and eclipses all over the globe, took his wife and me to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I’ll never forget how eerie it felt when the light began to fade, shadows began to lengthen, and the birds stopped singing. At totality, when it’s safe to look with the naked eye, you look up and see the most incredible sight. I can understand why primitive peoples would be fearful and think it was the end of their world. 

What amazes me is that modern science is able to predict eclipses. We’ve gone from being cavemen terrified by a sudden unexpected celestial event to having the knowledge and technology to be able to predict eclipses for thousands of years into the future - and have it measured down to milliseconds.

A very long line of 'eclipses' projected on a jacket
and bags hanging in our living room.

It makes me think about how far we have come with medical science as well, even in just the last ten years. It gives me real hope that research being done on chronic pain will yield even better treatments, medications, and solutions in our lifetime.

We have passed through the darkest part of the chronic pain eclipse and are moving past the shadow into the light leading to the future!