Totality
The solar eclipse that will cross North America in August 2017 holds a great deal of symbolism for me. Way back when, I had this crazy idea that a supersonic plane could follow the path of totality on eclipse day; time has unfortunately run out for my big dream of giving the crowds a sonic boom as the eclipse passes – more on that below – but in short, for some deeply personal reasons, I still really want it to mean something. So I thought I might offer a suggestion to anyone who will be watching the eclipse pass on the 21st of August, 2017:
With a “still small voice” in place of the “shaking earth” – as the Biblical reference goes – perhaps the silent passing of the eclipse can signify something deeper than the mere coincidental transect of a celestial body. My suggestion – especially for those who may be mourning a loss – would be to take a moment of silence or reflection when the sun goes dark, and then use the inevitable return to brightness to signify a recommitment or reconnection in their honor.
So why does this particular eclipse mean so much to me? Here’s how this story began:
Flight of the Concorde
My dad was an engineer in the aerospace industry; when I was a kid, he would take me around to air shows, and I developed a fascination with planes that continued over the years. One of those planes was the Concorde. I had always assumed that I would hop on a supersonic plane someday, so when I read about the last Concorde being retired back in 2003, I felt a bit of regret that the era had ended. The news features that accompanied the last flight highlighted a list of some of the Concorde’s accomplishments, including a specially outfitted Concorde that had chased an eclipse in North Africa back in the 70s and managed to keep up with the Mach 2 trajectory. Later on, I read about the two upcoming solar eclipses that would be criss-crossing the U.S. in 2017 and 2024, and I wondered if the earlier feat could be repeated – perhaps giving the North American crowds a sonic boom at the passing of the totality.
All sorts of ideas started flying around in my head…videos from the approaching plane coupled with CGI and streamed live to smartphones on the ground, high-definition HFR 3D IMAX cameras filming the transects, time-lapse photography from the point of intersection, drone videos of the gathering crowds, documentary footage from previous eclipses…hell, I even thought I’d throw in a coffee table book at the end of it all! So I put together a very ambitious and optimistic proposal and pitched it to IMAX.
The idea ended up generating a bit of interest at IMAX, and I signed some initial agreements with them; but then the guy I was dealing with left the company and his successor wasn’t interested in pursuing it any further. I was a bit disappointed to have hit the end of my short-lived dream of being a documentary cinematographer before it even got off the ground, but life had already thrown enough on my plate, so I dropped the notion as well and moved on to other pursuits.
A while later I got the kids up in the middle of the night to watch a lunar eclipse. They thought it was pretty cool – or maybe they were just humoring me – but I said, “This is nothing, kids, just wait until you see the full solar eclipse that's coming in a few years!” I had no idea where we would be living on eclipse day in 2017, but I told them we’d try to travel straight to the center of the totality when the time came.
Eclipse of the Heart
As time went on, we found ourselves living in Australia when we got the devastating news that our oldest son, Jaedin, was going into advanced heart failure. We had faced a number of hurdles with him over the years due to his congenital heart defect, including a series of very risky open heart surgeries. Each of the operations felt like they were ripping our own hearts apart, especially when we had to part ways with him as they wheeled him off to the operating room. But at least at the time there had been some hope of success with some potential surgical intervention. Now we had neither. We contacted the best surgeons on the planet, and they all agreed that his heart and the combination of conditions made a transplant too risky. Our best bet was to make him as comfortable as possible and enjoy our limited time with him the best we could.
We wanted to be honest and straight forward with him about his future – and do what we could to help him achieve as many of his hopes and dreams as possible. When we sat down with family and friends for a special prayer service, I asked Jaedin about what he still wanted to accomplish in life.
“I want to see the eclipse,” he said as his first response.
I was a bit taken back. I didn’t know he had even remembered our conversation about it; besides, it was still four years away, and we had been told his heart may only last a few months more.
I made a commitment to myself that if, God-willing, he was still with us in 2017, we’d go watch the eclipse together. If we lost him in the meantime, I’d make the pilgrimage anyway and hope to feel some sort of connection as I looked up at the sky and watched it pass. With all of the uncertainty in life at the time, including having just lost my job, that eclipse became one thing I could focus on as a certainty and an inevitability. It was going to happen no matter what. No loss or sorrow, no success or victory, no act of cruelty or terrorism, no act of generosity or kindness, nothing was going to change what was written in the stars. We’ve been able to predict this coming eclipse for decades; we couldn’t stop it even if we wanted to. Wherever we will be on the day – whether or not we are even here on the day – the lights are going to go out briefly on the 21st of August over North America. And then they’ll come back on.
I don’t know why, but that felt like something to cling to at the time. With or without him, time was going to move on. The sun and the moon were going to keep tick-tocking along no matter what. Whether I sink into depression at the thought of the potential loss, or use it as a catalyst for attacking each day, the universe was going to keep moving on with or without me. So I might as well make the most of it.
Well here we are already in 2017 – it’s getting closer every day! And in the meantime, miracles and medical advances over the years have kept Jaedin with us – to the point where he has now qualified for a transplant list. Along with that wish being granted though, we have to accept that the prospect of international travel with its corresponding chance of infection may not be the best option for him at this point. So despite my initial commitment and resolve related to the eclipse, we’ve had to drop the idea of traveling to see it for his own sake.
But we are still full of hope, and Jaedin keeps beating the odds; we'll get our own eclipse right here in Western Australia in 2023, so we'll go ahead and set our sights on that one…along with the next item on his original bucket list: the Ferrari World roller coaster in Abu Dhabi! [Due to his heart condition, he has never been able to ride a roller coaster, so we’ve told him as soon as he gets his new heart, we’ll make it happen!]
Another total eclipse will transect the U.S. in 2024. Of course by the time that one arrives – with just as much certainty as the 2017 eclipse – Jaedin may or may not be with us. I may or may not be with us. You may or may not be with us. We’re really all facing that same prospect. But if you do see that one pass seven years from now, it might be a good reminder of what has been accomplished in the meantime. Some of those who will witness this one will be gone by the next; the rest of us will have had a quarter trillion heartbeats in between. Will we make each one count along the way?
Well even though there won’t be a sonic boom this time around, and even though we won’t be there to see it, I do still want this eclipse to mean something. Maybe it can be a good reminder that the sun rises on all alike as another Biblical passage goes – that we’re all in the same boat, despite all of our differences. Maybe the eclipse can be used as a symbolic moment to indicate a return to brightness; I felt the real possibility for several years that it might symbolize a deep loss for me. And I knew that I might be looking for some light to return to life. For so many others who are mourning a loss, the light may feel like it has gone and completely disappeared.
Night/light
Our high school class just lost someone who has consistently been called the brightest light her friends ever knew. The last thing she said to one of our mutual friends was "Joie de vivre!" It's great advice to appreciate that "joy of living" as the French call it, but those who were close to her are of course struggling with a loss of light in the aftermath. In this case it’s not just her family and friends, but perhaps also the driver of the vehicle that inadvertently claimed her life and the other friends and family members who have been affected. When the brightness darkens in my own life, I wonder sometimes if light can ever return where it has been lost – especially where guilt or regret is involved. I’ve lost a few friends to suicide over the years; and I’ve struggled with some of that residual guilt and have watched their families struggle as well. And I know how guilt can entirely eclipse the light of life – completely removing any “joie de vivre”.
When the sun goes dark on August 21, we don’t need to wonder what’s going to happen next. It will return. I am sure that it will. Absolutely certain, in fact. Is any sunrise or sunset different? Well I want my confidence in the return of brightness after a loss to be just as sure. Whether it's Jaedin or anyone else I might lose, like the light lost during the eclipse, I have to believe it’s only temporary – that inner peace and joie de vivre can return for everyone – especially if we come together to help support those who are facing some overwhelming darkness.
When we were facing our hardest times, with Jaedin’s heart on ice and no idea whether it would start beating again after bypass, we felt the support of thousands of people around the world, all sending us good vibes in whatever way aligned with their own faith or convictions: prayer rolls, votive candles, rosary beads, vibhuti ash, mezuzahs... They all wanted to help, and even if they couldn’t see the tangible effect of that help on us, the moral support literally felt like crutches in helping us to put one foot in front of another.
I’ve found myself wanting to offer that same sort of support to others, especially when I’ve been stuck on the other side of the world while friends and family get together during tough times. I want my support to somehow help those who may be struggling, but sometimes I don’t know how to pass that along. I was touched by the tributes to a Holland Christian school teacher who passed away last year, in particular the online “prayer map” that someone had created for him. As those who were praying for the family logged their location, the results showed thousands of points spanning the globe. When my sister lost her little boy a few years ago, I wrote a poem trying to portray a similar image of the cumulative effect of the support that I and others wanted to offer across a huge distance:
Here’s the rest of the poem:
http://www.krey.org/nightlight/
Joie de vivre
Wherever I happen to be on eclipse day, my thoughts will be with those I have wanted to support over the years as they struggled with a loss: the families and friends of Michelle, Jacob, Matt, John, Dann, Logan, E.J., Zeb, David, Quinn, Ken, Vern, Jeremy, Gary, and so many others. You all have your own lists. Whether you see the eclipse in whole or in part, whether you see it live in person, online, on TV, or in the newspaper – wherever you happen to be when you see it, maybe try tuning out the cheers of the crowd just for a moment; and take that moment of silence to reflect or pray in whatever way connects you to whatever is beyond.
If your friends and family members know that’s what you’ll be doing, maybe that will mean more than a meme or a tweet. And maybe they’ll feel the unity of your support over time and distance when they see the eclipse pass themselves. And perhaps they will be able to feel a bit more of that light return when the sun comes back out in its full brightness – hopefully made even brighter by newfound appreciation for life with more "joie de vivre"!
Here are some excerpts from the original content of this site:
Total Eclipse
of the Heartland:
The Solar Eclipses of 2017 and 2024
Eclipse viewers across the United States will be treated to a maximum of three minutes of totality during the two upcoming solar eclipses that will completely transect the continent. Given the hype that will surround the events as millions of people flock to the paths of totality, three minutes seems awfully short - especially considering that for the last 43 years, the world record for the longest observed solar eclipse has actually stood at 73 minutes! That record was set by a team on board an eclipse-chasing Concorde above the North African desert. So here is my Mythbusters submittal: Could that experiment be repeated today across the North American continent?
A supersonic plane flying directly under the path of totality could accentuate the experience for viewers on the ground with a sonic boom that hits right as the totality passes overhead. There are very few planes and suborbital spacecraft flying today that could keep up with the Mach 2.5 path of totality. Planes with the required range, such as the Concorde or Blackbird, couldn't likely be resurrected in the required timeframe, but perhaps it could be done as a relay. Even the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels don't fly fast enough; but a set of F15s could get it done.
Assuming the flights are technically feasible, how about mounting cameras to the planes and making a time-lapse of each transect to accompany a documentary film? A few years ago I decided to pitch that idea as a proposal to large-format film producers; I got a positive initial response from IMAX, so I entered into discussions and signed some agreements with them. Then the guy I was dealing with left; his successor dropped the project, and – with time running out to make it happen – so did I…thus ending my short-lived dream and failed career as a documentary cinematographer.
Well I still think it would be cool to help make it happen...so every year for the past ten years on the 21st of August – the 2017 eclipse date – I’ve been sending out a letter to IMAX, NASA, or any other group I can think of with connections to the film or aerospace industries with some proposals. It's hard to believe that the accomplishments of half a century ago are no longer possible today; given the cost of keeping supersonic planes in the air, that's the reality, but perhaps some Information Age advances could compensate for the Space Age's shortcomings. There are many opportunities surrounding the upcoming eclipses that wouldn't have been possible back in 1973. Coupled with CGI, a live video streamed from the approaching aircraft to the smartphones of viewers on the ground, for example, could provide a countdown to the passing totality. These days, a few logos on the plane can go a long way toward the funding; if you happen to know anyone with deep pockets who could help fund the dream, here's one of the cover letters to pass along:
August 21, 2010
To McGillivray-Freeman Films:
Seven years from today - on August 21, 2017 - a spectacular solar eclipse
will completely transect the continental United States from west to east. Seven
years later, another total solar eclipse will cross from south to north. The
last complete transect of a solar eclipse across the United States was during
World War I; within just a few years Americans will get two chances to view
what is typically a once-in-a-lifetime event.
It is a special set of circumstances that I believe warrants a widespread
response in order to maximize the experience for the public. If other recent
eclipses around the globe are of any indication, millions of spectators will
flock to the path of totality. As part of the activities surrounding the
events, a large-format film would seem an ideal medium in which to capture the
setting – perhaps providing a background on the nature of an eclipse and
integrating historical accounts of previous eclipses with shots filmed during
the upcoming events.
It will take a mere 90 minutes for the totality to pass from west to east -
even shorter from south to north. If it were possible to mount an IMAX camera
on a supersonic aircraft with sufficient air speed and range to match the path,
the footage could show a time-lapse view of the complete transects.
Supplemented with satellite imagery, CGI, and ground-based filming where crowds
have gathered, the resulting footage could provide two unique slices of
American life.
Many of the aircraft that could have accomplished this feat have now been
retired, but wouldn't it be something if the passing of the totality could be
punctuated by a sonic boom from a resurrected SR-71 Blackbird or a relay of
F-15 Eagles? In some areas, cloud cover will obscure the view of the eclipse,
and a flyover could underscore what might otherwise be an unremarkable journey
for spectators in these areas.
I would also envision a sublime opportunity to photograph two total eclipses
from a single vantage point. Perhaps a tower or framework could be constructed
where the two paths will cross near Makanda, Illinois
to allow for unobstructed, high-resolution time-lapse photography. The precise
point of intersection can be narrowed down to a few parcels of land. A few
short years from now, public awareness campaigns will be conducted on a massive
scale to distribute eclipse glasses; negotiations for the acquisition of a
lease arrangement with the landowners could begin before publicity increases
with the approaching events.
Celestial events of this order have the power to unify people in an
unprecedented manner; as outlined in the attached proposal, however, pulling
this off successfully requires a great deal of coordinated, advanced planning.
The clock is ticking, and I eagerly anticipate your response.
cc. IMAX, U.S. Air Force, Blue Angels, NASA, NSF, the Smithsonian, National Geographic, Discovery, GoPro, Red Bull
Contact us for more details
Watch the
documentary
about the 1973 eclipse-chasing Concorde
Or support the idea by sending the question "can a plane keep up with an
eclipse" to
Mythbusters
More info:
2017 Solar Eclipse (Wikipedia)
2017 Solar Eclipse (McGlaun)
2024 Solar Eclipse (Wikipedia)
2024 Solar Eclipse (McGlaun)