Eclipse

 Off the SW tip of the Westfjords we stopped to watch the eclipse. With special glasses we saw the moon begin to take a bite out of the sun. As the eclipse neared totality the sea cliffs lost color, becoming washed out, grey. Then the sun was blocked out completely: within seconds the twilight turned to deep deep blackness. The speed of this change was shocking. Then we had 2.5 minutes of darkness. In the distance was the twilit evening of the eclipse rushing away from us into obscurity, and then in the opposite direction the dawn of the eclipse low low on the horizon rushing towards us. This dawn grew & spread with enormous rapidity. Suddenly a tiny fragment of the sun gleamed brilliantly on the far side of the moon. Within seconds the blackness disappeared and the washed out twilight returned. From twilight to night in seconds, and from night to twilight in seconds. 

The slowness of the moon crossing the sun in the sky absolutely contrasted with the violent transitions we experienced here on the earth's surface. So small are we, so vast these bodies, how easily we or the planet could be wiped out by a minor celestial event.

Essentially, I was traumatized. I had to have a nap. And we could not talk about the eclipse until the next day. (Nick's impression)

Going....

Going....

Still going...

Gone!

Black hole sun, won't you come

And wash away the rain?

Black hole sun, won't you come? - Soundgarden

Josh's impressions - the poor quality photos above by no means convey the weight and impact of this experience. Prior to witnessing this, I naively/arrogantly thought "it'll be kinda interesting to see". I was not prepared at all for the the heavy and drastic multi-sensory overload the moment of totality imparted. Deep darkness, near total silence (excepting that damned humpback spouting around the boat), and a primal sense of dread - will it come back?! I can totally empathize with past societies assuming the end was nigh upon witnessing such a blackout; despite my understanding of the science/geometries that led to this event, the instantaneous loss of our prime life-giver was profound and shattering, if only for a couple minutes.