Great American Eclipse

Now THAT was an adventure…

I’ve finally had a few minutes to catch my breath after our trip to see the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. This was a very last minute trip, but also one that has been in the works for 7 years. I initially started planning to see this eclipse back in 2017 after regretfully missing out on the one that year. That was before I became a mother. Before the pandemic. A LOT of life has happened since then. Let’s just say that planning to photograph or even see a solar eclipse has been the furthest thing from my mind. I actually laughed out loud when the “1 year warning” alert came up on my calendar last year. Like….how aspirational 2017 me was!

Fast forward to a week or two ago and we had no plans to see the eclipse. But several things fell into place last minute (the planets aligned if you will). First, the FOMO started to set in HARD. Then an abnormally snowy April made decent skiing on eclipse day a possibility. The deciding factor was when I found out my son’s school wasn’t going to allow them to even view the (partial in our town) eclipse. At that point I knew we had go and all I had to do was say the word “skiing” to my husband and he was in. After a week of frantic planning, panic buying solar photography gear, renting a lens that showed up 2 days late, and we found ourselves at the mid-mountain lodge at Whiteface Ski Resort in New York in the path of totality.

I don’t think I can adequately describe what experiencing totality is actually like, but
I can offer some random thoughts about photographing the eclipse. First of all, nature is cool! Second, I knew the sun was bright, especially when reflecting off snow, but DAYUM that was BRIGHT. I should have practiced using my camera blindfolded. Third, much like photographing anything worthwhile and fleeting, adrenaline kicked in and my mind went completely blank during totality. I don’t remember saying any of the things I said. Thankfully muscle memory kicked in and I got some photos (which feel irrelevant at this point TBH). Finally, WOW that was the shortest 3 minutes of my life.

What a cool thing to experience communally. It was so special to share this with my little family, but also with strangers at Whiteface, and with so many friends who weren’t physically with me but I knew were viewing the same thing around the country. It reminded me so much of seeing the Northern Lights for the first time, or the stoke level of a lift line on an epic powder day, or singing your favorite song along with a stadium full of people.

Most of all, this experience has got me thinking about time. How fast it goes by. How much the passage of time accelerates as we get older. How much can change in such a short amount of time.

I’m thankful we were able to get off the hamster wheel of life for 3 minutes and 26 seconds and just witness something spectacular. I don’t know if this is what 2017 me had in mind, but I think she’d be proud.