Invisible Pleasure
Yesterday I spent the day shooting the annular eclipse. I stood out in the full blazing sun, in the middle of a parking lot where we practice Kendo and shot this timelapse for over 3 hours. I had a few solar glasses for people to use. At first a lot of people were annoyed I had occupied a sweet spot in the lot. They were busy. They had kids...but once I extended out my hand and offered a look at the sun everyone said the same thing....
"WOW", "Oh my god thats awesome", "SO COOL". Kids were the best, wondering what, how, why....so I was able to teach some kids about science and our world. We need more kids excited in science.
(As a side note, that sun spot you see on the surface of the Sun...is the same size as Jupiter - Approx 86,000 miles across...Or 11 Earths side by side.)
This eclipse was not visible, or even noticeable to the naked eye. It was "invisible" to your daily life. This exposure was taken at 1/1,000,000th the amount of light present. Using your naked eyes, you would see nothing but a blistering sun that would blind you.
I found it odd, that there were a few people that heard my offer, looked at the blinding sun...and said..."No thanks". As if they were judging my offer based on what they could see...which was nothing.
Too busy to take 30 seconds out of your day to see a rare event. Too busy to inspire your kids with science....
Everyone that put on the glasses left with a smile. A few people even said "you just made my day..."
Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it not there.
Kendo has taught me a lot about slowing my life down, absorbing the moment. We are only here once. How many eclipses will you see in your life. I felt content. I helped a lot of people smile, learn science and have a better day.
Hopefully this animated gif will play for everyone -- Tumblr makes you compress GIF animation to DEATH!!
