During the eclipse, the tree canopy acted as an eclipse box, creating these little crescents. So cool!
#ICYMI there was a solar eclipse yesterday. Nashville was along the totality path, so it was a bit of a big deal. I didn’t take the day off. Instead, I sat in the office parking lot alongside others who work in the building. Just about the time I began wishing I was watching at home with hubs, or watching at our neighbors’ ginormous eclipse party, a truck pulled into the lot. It was one of my organization’s service vendors and he had come to fix our copy machine. His facial expression told me he was having a bad day. I made a good-hearted comment about him braving the traffic during the eclipse. He responded that he’d already made several service calls and people literally swore at him for showing up and ruining office parties. My heart broke.
We went inside (we were still about 25 minutes away from eclipse totality) and he fixed the copy machine. I asked him if he wanted to hang out with us for the rest of the eclipse and would he like to borrow my (NASA-approved) glasses. He’d brought his own glasses and he pulled up a chair and spent part of his lunch hour with us. I learned that his wife had major surgery last week and he’d spent the weekend caring for her. I learned that several coworkers had taken the day off and he was part of a skeleton crew. Exhausted, he was trying to be pleasant to his customers while worrying about his wife. And he’d spent the morning being sworn at. That’s not right.
Shortly after seeing the corona, we went back inside so he could make one more adjustment to the copy machine. As we walked back outside (he needed to get to his next appointment and I needed to gaze at the sky for another minute) he said “Thank you for letting me have this moment.” It was then that I realized I was exactly where I was meant to be. I wasn’t supposed to watch the eclipse with hubs. I wasn’t to be at the neighbors’ party. I was supposed to show kindness to a guy who hadn’t been treated well that morning. I am grateful I was given that opportunity.
It was the best eclipse ever.
482gr8 