In honor of the Eclipse thread (
http://itsaboutliberty.com/index.php?topic=12877.msg142753#msg142753)...
I don't recall the moment that the import of the coming eclipse penetrated my thick skull - I think that it slowly oozed its way into my consciousness. There had been a buzz on the radio about it and that buzz just continued to build. Narrators who were saying "the last full solar eclipse until...." (I no longer remember the date but at the time it seemed awfully far away).
It was 1979. I was newly married and had a job warehousing for an electronics manufacturer. I didn't want to jeopardize my job but the lure of witnessing the eclipse became intoxicating. It was mid-February which is guaranteed to be rainy in Seattle and there were few who thought that anyone would get much of a view of the spectacle. Then the local news reported an interesting tidbit - the epicenter of the total eclipse would sweep over the replica of Stonehenge in Maryhill Washington. This site, located on the barren hillside overlooking the Columbia River stood a much better chance of clear weather for the event.
I took a chance and revealed my true plans to my lead-man. He gave me the OK to taking the day off. My wife working part-time at the time so that wasn't an issue. We packed my van like we did for camping trips and topped off the tank. As fate would have it the eclipse occurred on a Monday so we had a "free" travel day. We headed south Sunday afternoon and eventually found ourselves inthe middle of nowhere, AKA Maryhill Washington. I knew there was a reason why I favored vans in those days ;')
Stonehenge at Maryhill is a most peculiar thing. Sited on a remote hillside in southern Washington, it was built by noted eccentric Sam Hill, whose own tomb lies nearby, to commemorate 13 young Klickitat County men who gave their lives in World War I. The altar stone was dedicated on July 4th, 1918 and the full structure was completed and dedicated on May 30th 1929. Sam Hill had the structure fabricated out of concrete to resemble how the original megalithic Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England must have appeared ca. 1350 B.C.. Sam Hill’s Stonehenge sits high on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River near Maryhill, Washington.
During a total eclipse of the sun in February, 1979, Stonehenge, not surprisingly, became a center of activity. Thousands of people, including members of the New Order of Reformed Druids, gathered at Sam Hill’s concrete creation to witness the moon “eating the sun”. The participants sang and chanted in the darkness until the sun again emerged from behind the moon. (
http://www.mausoleums.com/portfolio/stonehenge-memorial/)
My recollection was that the actual eclipse occurred around 08:30 Monday morning. We were still foggy-eyed and in desperate need of a decent cup of coffee. The loons had occupied Stonehenge proper but amateur astronomers were plentiful in the parking/camping area. We struck up a conversation with one of them and he kindly offered to share his setup with us. It may even be the guy who took the following pictures. At any rate there was a full spectrum of people who congregated for the event, from "salt of the earth" to "extra-terrestrial".
The event itself was amazing and I still get chills recalling it.
Forty miles or so to the west of us was Portland Oregon. They were socked in with rain and a low ceiling of clouds. It was even worse back in Seattle. But at Maryhill it was fairly clear and bravely sunny. With the exception of being chilly it was very much like any other typical spring morning. The birds were chirping and cows in a nearby field were beginning to move about, occasionally making cow-moos and snorts.
Then a perceptible change started happening. A shadow appeared from the west silently racing towards us. The cows went silent. The birds went to ground. Off in the distance the loons were waking from their previous night’s debauchery and we could hear the hoots and hollering swell. The astronomers had their gear set up in anticipation and it was now just a matter of waiting for it to hit us.
The skies grew darker - very rapidly. The change was dramatic and even the loons fell silent. Behind us a streetlight reacted to the lack of sunlight and energized itself. From someone’s car the melody from Dark Side of the moon lofted across the lot and I thought to myself, "What could be more appropriate music to score this event?!"
As quickly as it came it climaxed and then receded, the ominous shadow heading off down the valley.
That was my eclipse of February, 26, 1979