Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25036
the shadow overtook the bird, it dropped to the ground, landing hard, giving up. My body flushed hotly and the atmosphere set to buzzing. The collapsed rays of the sun lent the eeriest iridescent glow to the air itself. Objects and people seemed outlined, almost two dimensional, as the light not only faded but changed its structure. A star appeared. The sensation built with the accelerating heat of an orgasm, as the last hot gleam of the sun vanished. Then, lights out. The sun exploded into bloom: a pearly-petaled space flower hanging silently in space. On Earth, we unleashed uncontrollable shouts of glee. Three planets-Mercury, Venus and Jupiter-were all clearly aligned with this unnatural, feather-crowned anti-sun. As a hot orange dollop erupted over the edge of the crisp black moon, the trance was broken. A gleaming crescent grew from each side into a moon- sized glowing ring with a radiant oozing gem set at the top. Three minutes and 23 seconds after the sun disappeared, the eclipse was done. Like it never happened. The rest of a bright sunny day lay ahead. Drums sounded and people hugged. Veteran chasers compared experiences and marveled at the duration and the remarkable alignment of the planets. Eclipse virgins described their epiphanies and asked the question of the moment, "When's the next one?" The prime appeal of this amazing phenomenon is that it "AN ECLIPSE TAI{ES YOU PLACES YOU MIGHT NEVER GO AND MAI{ES YOU EARN YOUR ADVENTU RE." different flavor. An eclipse takes you to places you might never go and makes you earn your adventure. Eclipse-obsessives have taken flights over the Antarctic, trudged into Mongolia knowing full well there was only a 20 percent chance of decent weather and negotiated minefields for their umbral fix. I heard about a Rainbow tribe faction that is in a constant state of transience, traveling to every single eclipse-eclipseheads I guess you'd call them. Supposedly they were in Colombia, but no one who'd heard of them knew if the reasons were semi-religious, or just a fun theme on which to base their travels. What difference does it make, really? Whatever your reason to witness an eclipse-the challenge of getting to a remote destination, making contact with the spirit of Sammy Davis Jr or reconnecting yourself with the barely imaginable wonders of the everyday life of the universe-it is a great reason to So why not go chase a shadow? There's more to it than darkness. • 36