Friday, April 05, 2024

Everyday miracles above us

No crowds here
London, ON
April 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

With three days to go until millions of people gather to take in a possibly-once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse, I find myself questioning whether it’s worth the hype.

Don’t get me wrong: the Moon blocking out the Sun is rare enough that it’s worth noticing. Millions of people will form core memories that will last a lifetime, and it’s hard to argue against being part of something so universally understood. We remember where we are when history happens, and that’s an important part of being human.

But in all the hype around this one-time event, I fear we’re forgetting that great things can also happen on any other day, at any other moment, in any other place.

To wit, the park near my house, where I’ll sometimes go to take in the sun before it winks out for the day. It happens often enough that it isn’t remotely special - at least not special enough to generate a headline or entice millions of people to travel huge distances and stand among the crowds.

As I was watching the clouds from home and debating whether or not to make the walk at all, my wife told me the worst outcome would be an extra kilometre or so of walking. I followed her advice, and the clouds had largely cleared by the time I got there.

It ended up being a particularly memorable sunset. Not the only one. Not a headline-grabbing one. Not something millions of other people were doing at the same time.

But uniquely special all the same. To me, at least.

So please don’t mind if, in the decades between the big ticket eclipses and other major events that pull in the crowds, I fill the quiet evenings by standing alone and making memories no less valuable in my own admittedly lower-profile life.

Indeed, what are we all up to when the rest of the world isn’t paying attention? Perhaps that’s where we might want to be pointing our lenses.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sun #sunset #sky #clouds #cloudspotting #weather #wx #silhouette #forest #tree #trees #optimist #park #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded


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