I watched the eclipse on Monday with my family and friends here in Tennessee. For three hours, we stared through our eclipse glasses in awe at this marvel of nature while sharing a potluck meal together. Our hosts set up a speaker and I played cheesy eclipse songs from a playlist on Spotify, including "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "Bad Moon Rising," and "Blinded by the Light." It was a running joke with my family for me to point out the relationship of each song to the eclipse, "Moonshadow, get it? Moon. Shadow." I kept myself pleasantly amused all day.
About 20 minutes before totality, my husband had a special request. Could I please turn OFF the music so we could hear how nature reacts to the waning sun? When I begrudgingly cut off the speaker ("Sunshine on My Shoulders. Get it? Sun. Shine."), a whole new world of music opened up to me. We listened as the crickets and cicadas sang evening songs in the early afternoon. We heard the people gathered there in the front yard excitedly screaming, cheering, and crying with glee and amazement. We surrendered to something larger than ourselves. And it was absolutely beautiful. When the totality finished and we put our eclipse glasses back on to watch the sun slowly reveal itself again, my daughter and her friends applauded. Well done, Mother Nature, on your concert. No soundtrack could replace your perfect beauty. May you find music surrounding you in its perfect beauty.
Make a joyful noise! Anne