Grumpa would have had a big time today. He and Mom-Lady could not have planned our Eclipse Day any better when they purchased a hillside home among Douglas firs in Oregon’s totality zone back in 2001. We’re certain they had Aug. 21, 2017 in mind.
MontaraManDan and The Geek drove up from The Coastside. The Bro and his Favorite Youngest Son jetted in from Houston. And an eclectic group of neighbors and friends ages 2 to 85 drove over to join Mom-Lady and family on her broad deck for endless brunch and a goofy run-up to an eerie moment of totality.
The menu? Tomato crostata, blue cheese and grape flatbread, blueberry muffins, Spanish tortilla, cheese, veggies … you get the picture. No one went hungry. And we washed it down with mimosas, orange juice, sparkling apple juice and wine. Right. No one went thirsty, either.
We got suitably goofy in the build-up to totality, voguing in our ISO-certified eclipse specs and watching the moon slowly slip across the face of the sun. And then a chill began to descend. The light began to fade. Chatter slowed. Totality.
We dropped our glasses. And for a moment as the sun’s corona ringed the moon, we stared and sensed the uneasy fascination that descends upon mankind during this occasional jaw-dropping, even holy sight. Unforgettable.
Food, family, friends … totality. Except for one thing. Sadly, we lost Grumpa last fall. We will inter his ashes later this week. He would have loved this moment. And we would have traded it all for one more moment with him.
Love ya Grump!
[…] stopped in Ashland to see our nephew, The Music Guru, last month on the way to the 2017 solar eclipse totality zone near Salem. The Guru, who was in town as music director for a run of “Cabaret” performed as […]