Chasing Shadows

Total solar eclipse

Apr 12, 2024

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It’s been cloudy for eight days straight. According to the almanac, 90% of April 8th days in the White Mountains are cloudy. Today, it’s bluebird. Tommy Rosen once said to me, “How much more evidence do you need?”

I got on the road heading north on I-93. There was a big slowdown at the toll so I got off at the exit ramp to take back roads instead.

The intersection was gridlocked. I paid the toll to get off the highway, did a U-turn, and paid the toll to get back on.

GPS 1 - Chris 0

90 miles north, in the White Mountain National Forest, there was another epic traffic jam where the highway narrows to one lane to cut through the notch. So I got off and took back roads through the mountains—a scenic drive I’d never done. It was slow but pleasant. I put the Tesla on self-drive and filmed vlog, link at the end.

GPS 1 - Chris 1

All this driving is to get to the path of totality of the solar eclipse in northern New Hampshire.

On the other side of the mountains, I found an Ocean State Job Lot. The parking lot was full of shadow chasers. I bought snacks and kicked my soccer ball. Intuition told me: keep going north. To Northumberland.

I’d never been to the tiny town of Northumberland. It had one public bathroom at the town’s one restaurant. I parked at the river, next to the covered bridge.

There were license plates from Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Florida. And a whole lotta Massholes.

I met Wayne and Mark from Pennsylvania. They had massive cameras.

“Have you guys been looking forward to this for a while?” I asked.

“Oh, you bet.”

I sat on my cooler near a girl with a dog.

“I’m wondering how the dog will react,” I said.

“Maybe he’ll be normal for once,” she said.

And we laughed.

“Just two minutes of bliss.”

As the moon covered more of the sun, the temperate dropped quickly. People went to their cars for their jackets. I used the glasses a friend gave me to view the partial eclipse. It’s almost time.

It’s happening.

For two minutes, all the people of Northumberland looked to the heavens.

And the birds were very confused.

“How’d it get so dark?” they said.

And the dogs whined and barked.

And for a few seconds the humans forgot their names and numbers.

I flailed for photos, then threw my phone into the grass and just absorbed the strangeness. It was very strange. It was so much beauty I couldn’t process it all. I hope I live long enough to see another. It left me beaming.

I have many words in my bag of tricks, but when I reached in, they were all too slippery to convey such a site.

It was making eye contact with god.

I thought of the word. Orgasmic. Yup. That’s the one. A thousand people staring at the sky, orgasming with their clothes on.

My blood turned to electricity. That might sound ridiculous, but I’m just reporting the facts.

Invigorating. Powerful. Unforgettable. All came to mind.

In the words of younger me: it was fucking sick as shit.

When it was over, a kid sipping a McDonald's soda said, “That was quick.”

I‘m glad to know the eyes of Earth will always be able to experience such a phenomenon.

God woke us up for a reason.

Solar eclipses are the spice of life.

Is it the quantity of time that matters, or the depth of the now.

Your somatic experience is you, and no one can take that from you.

May be an image of eclipse — Solar eclipse, Northumberland, New Hampshire. Photo by Mark Van Scyoc 2024

You taught me the courage of stars before you left
How light carries on endlessly, even after death
With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite
How rare and beautiful it is to even exist

I couldn't help but ask for you to say it all again
I tried to write it down, but I could never find a pen
I'd give anything to hear, you say it one more time
That the universe was made, just to be seen by my eyes

Saturn, Sleeping at Last

Congratulations! You made it to the end! Hit the heart to let me know you made it (:

My book, All Outcomes are Acceptable, is on Amazon. It features the best stories and photography from my life. One reader described it as “Absurd. Blatant. Truth 1 millimeter from your face.”

Freelance Offering: Editing, formatting, and promotion for blogs and books. DM on Substack or email writechrisjames@gmail.com to see if we can work together.

I post videos and podcasts on YouTube.

Thanks guys. Have a great rest of your day.

Music

What I’m Reading

Build The Village

What's It Going to Take To Increase The Birth Rate?

All across the developed world, there is a brewing population crisis. Demographic math says that in order to have a steady population, you need about 2.1 children born per woman. Most countries don’t come close, including the United States. According the census bureau, without immigration…

2 years ago · 8 likes · 3 comments · Michael Perrone

I found Build The Village today. He hit the nail on the head with this birth rates piece. It’s something I’ve written about, and I’m working on another post about it. Coming soon.

Johann Kurtz is a great writer and I just become a paid subscriber.

I’m ejoying a History of Love, a novel by Nicole Kraus.

I’m reading my own book, All Outcomes Are Acceptable.