Dear Daughters,
Dad and I drove into Tryon, Nebraska, two days before the eclipse, having planned this trip months ago. Because Tryon is located in the totality path, we were certain that the little town of 401 people would be crawling with visitors and we wanted to be sure to get a place in some pasture. But when we explored the area we were pleasantly surprised that only a handful of spectators had arrived. So we drove around Tryon, the only town in the county, and unexpectedly found Kim and Janelle Blake, the owners of Blake Ranch, which had been prepared in advance for all the incoming viewers.
Having heard of the price gouging going on in the prime viewing areas, we were prepared to pay dearly for a spot in the pasture. When Janelle told us that their rate was $15 a night, we were shocked and amazed. I asked why they were charging so little and she replied, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night if I had charged any more.
We signed up for two nights, received an autographed cow’s ear tag as our receipt, and bumped along looking for the perfect viewing spot. Since there were only 7 other campers on the 80-acre pasture, we found some prime land right next to a large hay bale, giving us a bit of shade in the 95-degree heat.
We pitched our tent, taking care to avoid the cow pies and gopher hills and were quite pleased with our humble abode, especially since we hadn’t been camping for years.
At 6:00 that night Kim drove to the pasture with his pickup and grill, fired it up and bar-b-qued hamburgers for all who were camping – free of charge – just because they figured people would be tired and hungry from traveling. Janelle brought out homemade coleslaw, pink fluff salad and baked beans, along with Rice Krispy treats for dessert. We had a delightful evening meeting and dining with others from the far reaches of the U.S.
On Sunday morning, a worship service was held in the city park, just a short walk from the pasture. Many people from various faith walks came together to sing and worship in the beautiful outdoors.
During the afternoon, we went driving – taking the roads five miles north, five miles south, five miles east and five miles west of Tryon to see the outlying land (and also to feel some a/c). We went only 5 miles each direction because every road became beautifully predictable, miles and miles of daisies scattered on the sides of the road, along with lush green prairie grass – a sight we don’t often see in Idaho.
In the evening, we were treated to a program called Sandhills Through Song…musical fun with musical facts of our heritage. It was comprised of local people singing, square dancing, fiddle, harmonica and banjo playing with a variety of home-grown talent including our gracious hosts Kim and Janelle.
Monday morning – the day of the eclipse – dawned, barely, with heavy fog and cloud-filled skies, just as predicted. But miraculously, around 11:00, the clouds parted and gave way to a stunning blue sky, just in time for the start of the eclipse.
By this time more than 100 additional cars had pulled in to share our 80 acres and another 20 or more RVs had arrived the night before. We could feel the anticipation of the amazing, once in a life-time eclipse – everyone setting up lawn chairs, chaise lounges, sun awnings, making certain all the eclipse glasses were available, cameras on tri-pods – a regular Woodstock for Geeks. People from Guam, Africa, China plus many parts of America, and according to the Where Are You From???? Map, we were the only ones representing Idaho.
One neighbor walked by in a semi-daze, then introduced himself to us. He commented that this seemed to be one of those rare occasions when people got the gaze off themselves and onto something else outside of their own little me-first world. Interesting observation.
Then exactly as had been predicted, the moon started its shadow at the 1 o’clock position on the sun. Reminding me of a little pac man, the shadow began to grow, making the sun look like a bright yellow moon at noon. Slowly, the moon continued to move across the sun, our surroundings becoming darker, shadowy and about 15 degrees cooler than it had been. At exactly 12:53, the moon was positioned, exactly centered on the sun and the entire crowd in the pasture erupted with cheers and whistles, as if a touch down at a football game had just occurred.
Words cannot express the beauty of that ring of fire around the moon, but I’ll try. Indescribable, amazing, stellar, stupendous, remarkable, incredible, exquisite, astounding, astonishing, and defying description.
The words of Psalm 19 ran through my mind:
The heavens declare the glory of God,
The skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech,
Night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words,
No sound is heard from them,
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
Their words to the ends of the world.
The Message version of the Bible puts it another way:
God’s glory is on tour in the sky,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
Their words aren’t heard,
Their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
Unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
I guess you could say that the eclipse is God’s way of speaking in every language that He and His creation is beyond imagination and explanation, bigger and more complex, yet so intricately timed and predictable than any of us could ever perceive.
During totality, we took off our eclipse glasses and marveled at the sight. Looking around we could see stars in the sky and hear crickets chirruping in the fields – for exactly 2 minutes and 43 seconds. Then everything started to lighten up and the reverse crescent began to appear.
That experience of viewing the eclipse was certainly worth the two nights in the pasture, swatting mosquitos, ants, spiders, Daddy-long-legs and other unnamed flying insects. Sharing the experience with Dad and many other campers was something I’ll never forget.
The Totality in Tryon was much more than just the eclipse, it was a glimpse of generous, small-town people taking pride in their community, delighting to share the treasures which are theirs, holding visitors in esteem instead of simply seeing them as a quick buck to be made over a weekend.
My greatest gratitude goes to the little unincorporated city of Tryon for blessing us as we shared together the glory of God’s creation.
Love, Mom
p.s. I didn’t post any pics of the eclipse because you have already seen many better than mine:)
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