WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:23.440
<v Speaker 1>Us was to be ours.

2
00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:20.120
<v Speaker 2>The eclipse watchers. The poster had been taped to the

3
00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.719
<v Speaker 2>lamp post outside the community center for two weeks before

4
00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:26.879
<v Speaker 2>anyone paid much attention to it. It was printed on

5
00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.719
<v Speaker 2>bright yellow paper with a black circle in the center

6
00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:36.240
<v Speaker 2>and the words Solar Eclipse Viewing Party, hill Top Park, Saturday,

7
00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:40.439
<v Speaker 2>August fourteenth, two o'clock in the afternoon written across the top.

8
00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:43.600
<v Speaker 2>One corner had peeled away from the tape and hung

9
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:47.280
<v Speaker 2>at an angle, casting a small shuttle on the concrete below.

10
00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:50.520
<v Speaker 2>But someone had also taped a second poster to the

11
00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:54.000
<v Speaker 2>mailbox at the end of Maple Street and a third

12
00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:56.759
<v Speaker 2>to the window of the corner bakery, and by the

13
00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:00.240
<v Speaker 2>end of the second week, nearly everyone in the neighborhood

14
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:04.480
<v Speaker 2>knew about the eclipse. Clara first noticed the poster on

15
00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:07.640
<v Speaker 2>a Tuesday morning when she was walking to the bakery

16
00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:11.200
<v Speaker 2>for her usual order of one sourdough roll and a

17
00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:14.519
<v Speaker 2>small cup of black coffee. She stopped at the lamp

18
00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:18.560
<v Speaker 2>post and read the poster twice, then smiled a quiet

19
00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:21.200
<v Speaker 2>smile that started at the corners of her mouth and

20
00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:24.319
<v Speaker 2>spread slowly across her face. She had heard about the

21
00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:27.560
<v Speaker 2>eclipse on the radio a few days earlier, a brief

22
00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:30.920
<v Speaker 2>mention between the weather and the traffic report, and she

23
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:33.680
<v Speaker 2>had made a mental note to check the details later.

24
00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.480
<v Speaker 2>Now it was back, standing in front of her on

25
00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.879
<v Speaker 2>yellow paper, and she felt a small, warm spark of

26
00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.680
<v Speaker 2>anticipation light up inside her. She had never watched an

27
00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:48.359
<v Speaker 2>eclipse before. She had heard about them, of course, had

28
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:53.319
<v Speaker 2>seen photographs and books and on television, the black circle

29
00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.319
<v Speaker 2>of the moon sliding across the Sun, like a dark

30
00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.239
<v Speaker 2>coin passing over a bright one. She knew, I knew

31
00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:04.280
<v Speaker 2>you were supposed to wear special glasses, that looking directly

32
00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.840
<v Speaker 2>at the sun could hurt your eyes, and she knew

33
00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.759
<v Speaker 2>the whole thing lasted only a few minutes. But she

34
00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.280
<v Speaker 2>had never stood outside with other people and watched it

35
00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.919
<v Speaker 2>happen in real time. And there was something about the

36
00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:23.240
<v Speaker 2>idea that appealed to her deeply, something about the shared

37
00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:29.000
<v Speaker 2>silence and the shared wonder. By Thursday, the poster had

38
00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.439
<v Speaker 2>become the main topic of conversation at the bakery, and

39
00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:36.479
<v Speaker 2>the laundromat, and the small hardware store on Third Avenue,

40
00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.560
<v Speaker 2>where Clara sometimes went to buy things she did not

41
00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:44.599
<v Speaker 2>really need but enjoyed browsing young Sophia from the apartment

42
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.960
<v Speaker 2>above the book store, said she had ordered special eclipse

43
00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.479
<v Speaker 2>glasses online and they had not arrived yet. The baker,

44
00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:56.599
<v Speaker 2>a round faced woman named Delia who always had flower

45
00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.319
<v Speaker 2>on her apron, said she was going to close the

46
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.840
<v Speaker 2>shop early on Saturday and bring her two children up

47
00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:08.400
<v Speaker 2>to the hilltop. Clara volunteered to bring lemonade. She spent

48
00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:13.080
<v Speaker 2>Friday evening squeezing lemons at her kitchen counter, the juice

49
00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:16.680
<v Speaker 2>running through her fingers and pulling in the glass bowl below,

50
00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:22.159
<v Speaker 2>the scent of citrus filling her small apartment like a

51
00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.639
<v Speaker 2>summer morning. She added sugar and water and a handful

52
00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.520
<v Speaker 2>of fresh mint from the pot on her window sill,

53
00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:34.599
<v Speaker 2>and she stirred it all together, tasting it twice until

54
00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:38.560
<v Speaker 2>it was just right. She covered the bowl and set

55
00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.039
<v Speaker 2>it in the refrigerator, and then she stood for a

56
00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:45.960
<v Speaker 2>moment in the quiet kitchen, looking out the window at

57
00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:52.639
<v Speaker 2>the darkening sky, feeling the anticipation grow stronger. Saturday came

58
00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.879
<v Speaker 2>with the sky so blue it almost hurt to look at.

59
00:03:56.599 --> 00:03:59.680
<v Speaker 2>The sun was high and hot, and the air was

60
00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:03.159
<v Speaker 2>thick with the smell of cut grass and warm pavement,

61
00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:07.439
<v Speaker 2>and the faint sweetness of honeysuckle growing along the fence

62
00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:11.319
<v Speaker 2>at the edge of the park. Clara carried the lemonade

63
00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:14.960
<v Speaker 2>in a large glass jar with a lid wrapped in

64
00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:18.240
<v Speaker 2>a towel to keep it cool, and she walked up

65
00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:22.240
<v Speaker 2>the hill to Hilltop Park with the jar balanced carefully

66
00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:26.720
<v Speaker 2>on her hip. The park was a wide, gentle slope

67
00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:30.959
<v Speaker 2>that rose above the neighborhood, and from the top you

68
00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.439
<v Speaker 2>could see the whole town spread out below, the rooftops

69
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:40.319
<v Speaker 2>and the streets and the trees, and beyond that the

70
00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:45.160
<v Speaker 2>distant blue line of the mountains on the horizon. People

71
00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:50.279
<v Speaker 2>were already gathering when she arrived. They came in ones

72
00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:56.120
<v Speaker 2>and twos and small groups, carrying blankets and lawn chairs

73
00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:00.800
<v Speaker 2>and coolers. Delia was setting up a pick nick blanket

74
00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.120
<v Speaker 2>near the top of the hill, her two children already

75
00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:09.519
<v Speaker 2>running in circles on the grass, their laughter rising into

76
00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:14.560
<v Speaker 2>the warm air. Sophia was there, her glasses finally arrived,

77
00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.079
<v Speaker 2>holding them up to the light and tilting her head

78
00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:23.959
<v Speaker 2>back to test them. And there were others neighbors Clara

79
00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:28.319
<v Speaker 2>recognized from the streets and the shops, people she nodded

80
00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:31.759
<v Speaker 2>to on her morning walks. Clara set the lemonade on

81
00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:36.959
<v Speaker 2>the picnic blanket and sat down beside Delia. More people arrived.

82
00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:42.160
<v Speaker 2>A young couple brought a portable speaker and played soft music,

83
00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:47.079
<v Speaker 2>something with an acoustic guitar and a voice that floated

84
00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:51.879
<v Speaker 2>over the hill like a gentle breeze. A man Clara

85
00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:55.560
<v Speaker 2>did not recognize, set up a telescope on a tripod

86
00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:03.120
<v Speaker 2>and began adjusting the lens with careful, precise movements. The

87
00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:08.560
<v Speaker 2>hill filled slowly with people and blankets and chairs, and

88
00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.319
<v Speaker 2>the sound of conversation rose and fell like the tide.

89
00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:17.000
<v Speaker 2>At one forty five, some one called out that the

90
00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:21.680
<v Speaker 2>glasses were being passed around. Clara took a pair and

91
00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:25.920
<v Speaker 2>held them up, peering through the dark lenses at the sky.

92
00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:33.079
<v Speaker 2>The sun was a small, deep orange circle, dim and strange.

93
00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:36.839
<v Speaker 2>She lowered the glasses and looked at the hill around her,

94
00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:41.639
<v Speaker 2>at the faces turned upward, at the children sitting cross

95
00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:46.560
<v Speaker 2>legged with wide expectant eyes, and she felt a sudden,

96
00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:51.160
<v Speaker 2>fierce love for all of them, for this small gathering

97
00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:55.000
<v Speaker 2>of neighbors who had come together to watch something ancient

98
00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.879
<v Speaker 2>and beautiful happen above their heads. At two o three

99
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.240
<v Speaker 2>b the moon touched the sun It began as a

100
00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:08.480
<v Speaker 2>tiny notch, a small bite taken out of the upper

101
00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:14.079
<v Speaker 2>right edge of the solar disk. But then it grew slowly, steadily,

102
00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:18.279
<v Speaker 2>the dark edge of the moon sliding across the face

103
00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:23.240
<v Speaker 2>of the Sun. The crowd fell quiet, the music stopped,

104
00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:28.639
<v Speaker 2>the children stopped fidgeting. Even the birds seemed to sense something,

105
00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:33.959
<v Speaker 2>their songs fading one by one, until the only sounds

106
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.439
<v Speaker 2>on the hilltop were the soft rustle of wind in

107
00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:41.920
<v Speaker 2>the grass and the occasional whisper of someone pointing upward.

108
00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:47.879
<v Speaker 2>Clara raised the glasses and watched the moon moved across

109
00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:52.360
<v Speaker 2>the Sun with a patience that felt almost alive. The

110
00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:57.360
<v Speaker 2>sky began to change, the deep blue softening to a pale,

111
00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:02.279
<v Speaker 2>silvery hue, and the temperature dropped just enough to raise

112
00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:06.920
<v Speaker 2>goose bumps on Clara's arms. The shadows on the ground

113
00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.319
<v Speaker 2>grew strange and sharp, and the light took on an eerie,

114
00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:15.759
<v Speaker 2>metallic quality, as if the whole world had been dipped

115
00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:20.519
<v Speaker 2>in silver. At two twenty one, the moon covered the

116
00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:25.279
<v Speaker 2>Sun completely. The corona appeared, a shimmering ring of white

117
00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:28.959
<v Speaker 2>light surrounding the black disk of the moon, and the

118
00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:34.879
<v Speaker 2>crowd gasped a single collective intake of breath. Clara lowered

119
00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:38.799
<v Speaker 2>her glasses and stared upward with her naked eyes, because

120
00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.200
<v Speaker 2>during totality it was set to look, and the sight

121
00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:46.639
<v Speaker 2>was so beautiful that she forgot to breathe. The sky

122
00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.519
<v Speaker 2>was dark, but not night dark, more like deep twilight,

123
00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:54.120
<v Speaker 2>and on the horizon a band of orange and pink

124
00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:57.039
<v Speaker 2>glowed where the sun still shone beyond the edge of

125
00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:01.120
<v Speaker 2>the moon's shadow. A few of the children cried out

126
00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:06.240
<v Speaker 2>in wonder, and someone laughed, a sound of pure, helpless joy,

127
00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:10.879
<v Speaker 2>and Clara felt tears slide down her cheeks, warm and silent,

128
00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.879
<v Speaker 2>and she did not wipe them away. She stood on

129
00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:18.919
<v Speaker 2>the hilltop with her neighbors, surrounded by the silver twilight,

130
00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.799
<v Speaker 2>and she looked up at the corona, and she felt

131
00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:28.000
<v Speaker 2>something she could not name, something larger than happiness, something

132
00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:32.039
<v Speaker 2>deeper than wonder. It was a feeling of being small

133
00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:36.679
<v Speaker 2>and being held, of being one person among many, standing

134
00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.039
<v Speaker 2>on a hill looking up at something that had been

135
00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:43.279
<v Speaker 2>happening for millions of years, long before anyone was here

136
00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:48.159
<v Speaker 2>to watch it. And yet they were here right now,

137
00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:53.399
<v Speaker 2>all of them, sharing this moment, this brief and precious

138
00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:57.159
<v Speaker 2>darkening of the sky, and the sharing made it real,

139
00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:02.879
<v Speaker 2>made it madder. Total lasted two minutes in thirty eight seconds.

140
00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:08.799
<v Speaker 2>Then the first liver of sunlight returned, a brilliant white

141
00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:12.159
<v Speaker 2>arc on the left edge of the moon's disk, and

142
00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:18.799
<v Speaker 2>the crowd cheered softly. Gently. The light grew, spreading across

143
00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:22.679
<v Speaker 2>the hill like a slow exhale, and the colors returned

144
00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:26.159
<v Speaker 2>to the sky, and the birds began to sing again,

145
00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:33.639
<v Speaker 2>tentatively at first, then with increasing confidence. Clara sat back

146
00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:37.440
<v Speaker 2>down and poured herself a cup of lemonade. The liquid

147
00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:41.120
<v Speaker 2>was cool and tart and just slightly sweet, and she

148
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:46.159
<v Speaker 2>drank it slowly, savoring each sip. Around her people were

149
00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:51.360
<v Speaker 2>talking again, their voices animated and warm, describing what they

150
00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:56.159
<v Speaker 2>had seen. Delia's children were eating sugar cookies and arguing

151
00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.720
<v Speaker 2>about who had gotten the bigger bite. Old mister Hensley,

152
00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:03.120
<v Speaker 2>who had been sitting quietly in his folding chair, was

153
00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.240
<v Speaker 2>telling Sophia about an eclipse he remembered from nineteen seventy eight,

154
00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:12.039
<v Speaker 2>his voice steady and shore, and Sophia was listening with

155
00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.200
<v Speaker 2>the kind of attention that made old men feel young again.

156
00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:18.639
<v Speaker 2>Clara stayed on the hill until the moon had moved

157
00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:21.679
<v Speaker 2>completely past the sun, and the sky was blue and

158
00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:26.440
<v Speaker 2>bright and ordinary again. She helped Delia fold the picnic

159
00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.919
<v Speaker 2>blanket and pack the cooler, and she carried the empty

160
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.879
<v Speaker 2>lemonade jar back down the hill, its glass warm from

161
00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:38.320
<v Speaker 2>the afternoon sun. The streets were quiet as she walked home,

162
00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:42.840
<v Speaker 2>and the air smelled of warm grass and honeysuckle. That night,

163
00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:47.639
<v Speaker 2>Clara sat by her window and watched the stars come out.

164
00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:52.879
<v Speaker 2>She thought about the eclipse, about the silver light and

165
00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:57.000
<v Speaker 2>the silent crowd, in the two minutes and thirty eight

166
00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:00.879
<v Speaker 2>seconds of totality that had felt like a lifetime. She

167
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:05.200
<v Speaker 2>thought about her neighbors, about the lemonade and the sugar cookies,

168
00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:09.399
<v Speaker 2>and the telescope on the tripod. She thought about the

169
00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:13.120
<v Speaker 2>way the light had returned, slow and sure, like a

170
00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:18.480
<v Speaker 2>promise kept. And she smiled. And she pulled the curtains

171
00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:22.000
<v Speaker 2>closed and climbed into bed and lay there in the dark,

172
00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:25.600
<v Speaker 2>listening to the soft sounds of the night, feeling the

173
00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:28.759
<v Speaker 2>warmth of the day still held in her bones, and

174
00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:33.480
<v Speaker 2>she slept deeply and peacefully, the way you sleep after

175
00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:37.200
<v Speaker 2>you have witnessed something beautiful and shared it with people

176
00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:37.720
<v Speaker 2>you love.