Even though the April 8th eclipse was widely discussed for weeks, months, even years before the date, I still was completely unprepared for this event the morning of. I didn’t even have eclipse glasses!

Then, serendipitously, many different pieces fell into place. My last appointment of the day cancelled that morning. My friend and neighbor, Jocelyn, happened to have extra eclipse glasses with her at her workplace just a few minutes from my office. And my daughter’s school passed them out to each student.

I was able to pick up my 1st grader right as the eclipse was starting. We walked towards our home with our glasses on and stopped at our local park on the way along with many of our neighbors to witness this bewitching phenomenon together. At one point, she said to me, “Mom, I’m going to remember this forever.”

Although I have watched eclipses before, this one felt different. Maybe it is the perspective gained with age and parenthood, or experiencing it through my daughter’s wonder and hilarious comments, or because I was so excited that I unexpectedly could behold this most supernatural of natural events, but that afternoon felt magical.

The eclipse gave me such a beautiful reminder of our tiny little place in the Universe, and how the Earth and Moon will continue to continue spinning despite all the mess and havoc we humans have wrought.

Lessons I learned from that celestial day:

Magical things can happen even if you don’t plan ahead.
Even so, pay more attention to when eclipses are happening and maybe next time get the glasses and time off in advance.
Eclipses are absolutely remarkable and worth chasing.

Will I become an umbraphile? Stay tuned…I’m looking ahead to August 2026 in Iceland or Spain.

Best,

Dr. Lizzie