"Totality," a watercolor painting of eclipse in Wyoming by Sue Cedarholm
I don't care if it sounds trite: The solar eclipse was the one of the most amazing things I
have ever experienced. Here in Jackson Hole we were in the path of totality.
Tens of thousands of people, if not more, were expected to come for this event. Government
officials had been planning for years on what to do with all the people. Some predicted mayhem. A
couple of days prior to the eclipse the grocery store shelves were bare,
everyone stocking up for this spectacle.
Yet town was quiet, especially
quiet for summer. We were all asking, “Where is everyone? Are they really
going to arrive?”
An answer arrived on August 21, morning of the eclipse. I
was riding my bike up to Grand Teton National Park to watch the eclipse with my
daughter. People were out all over town, walking to Snow King to hike the
summit, bicyclists everywhere, a feeling of holiday.
Along the bike path all the way to the park every turn out
was filled with cars, people in lawn chairs, coolers out, cameras with all
sorts of strange filters on them. It was a human convergence on a landscape
level.
We rode up past the
airport and set up our spot in the sagebrush. We took the required selfies with
our eclipse glasses on, settling in for the show in the sky. As the moon
covered the sun the temperature slowly dropped, the light became eerie, but not
really night in day.
As the sun became this tiny little sliver I was thinking when
will it get dark? At totality the glasses no longer worked. I took them off and
could not believe what I was seeing - the moon— a black circle with the most
amazing white flares coming out on all sides. I got goose bumps, everyone
around us was cheering and clapping.
Unbelievable! It was now nearly pitch dark. The totality
lasted just over 2 minutes. The moon moved off, the temperatures quickly
warmed, the traffic picked back up, the day became just another hot summer
bustling day in the Tetons. It was surreal. For the rest of the day, everyone I
encountered was still in awe. A sight I
will never forget. This painting is my memory etched more in my mind.
About Sue Cedarholm
Jackson Hole-based Sue Cedarholm is a multi-media artist—painter, photographer and maker of nature-themed, wearable apparel. You can find all of the works in her ongoing series at Watercolor Diary.
