2024 Life Logs, Day 99: In the Path of Totality
Date: Monday, April 8, 2024
Weather: Gorgeous Day, Not a Cloud in the Sky; High Temp 55, Low 40 degrees F
Location: Rangeley, Maine, Then Back Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
What a very special day in the life. Driving to the path of totality was definitely worth it. We drove two and a half hours north and west of Portland, Maine, to the small mountain town of Rangeley.
There was snow in Portland left over from the last storm, and as we drove into the mountains, the white landscape backed by a beautiful blue sky with absolutely no clouds was stunning. When we were about 30 minutes out of Rangeley, we started seeing watch parties along the road. Everyone was in a festive mood. Jed and Ollie had arrived earlier with Jed’s Aunt Carol and they had found a perfect place for us to settle in and watch the ‘show’.
We were on the side of Dallas Hill overlooking Lake Rangeley with mountains in the distance. Just the view alone was gorgeous. We were parked across the street from the Rangeley Region Fitness Center on a construction site for some new homes. The young couple owning the one home that is completed allowed us and some other folks to park there. We didn’t know the other people, but as I learned, a watch party is fun group experience. There was food and music and joy in the air. Around 2:30 pm we saw the tiniest indentation in the bottom right of the sun. Little by little over the next hour, that indentation became bigger and bigger until only a crescent moon-shaped piece of the sun was visible.
You could see the look of wonder on everyone’s faces as they watched. As the moon slowly covered the sun, the light in our world dimmed and we had to put our coats back on as we could feel the chill. 
The watch party continued with someone’s great play list airing loud enough for all to hear. Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire brought smiles and when Total Eclipse of My Heart played, Heather was jumping up and down with joy.
The light got dimmer and dimmer and then someone announced that the music would stop for a few minutes during the totality. We watched through our glasses as the crescent of sunlight became a sliver, and then the magic happened. The sky turned a dark blue, the moon totally covered the sun with a halo of white light surrounding the black moon, and the horizon turned orange as if it was sunset. Our world was so quiet you felt like you could hear the person next to you holding their breath. It was truly a moment of amazement … and then the light returned. But those few moments where you felt the world at peace will forever stay with me.
