By Jackson Judd & Ayled Zazueta

Eclipse Article

Where did you go?

Baldwin: I went to Salem, OR and stayed at a friend's house. He lives near a giant wheat field, so my group and several other neighborhood families went to the top of the hill in the field to watch the eclipse.

Indigo: I went to Eugene, Oregon with some members of my theatre group.

How was the trip there?

Baldwin: The trip there was fine. We stayed in Eugene on Friday and Saturday nights, and drove up to Salem on Sunday. The traffic on the way there was fine; the traffic on the way home was terrible. It turned the 8-hour trip into about 14 hours.

Indigo: The trip was very boring, except for the time that I dreamed we were going off the road and shouted awkwardly.

What was going on in the anticipation of the eclipse?

Baldwin: In anticipation of the totality, we watched as the sun changed slowly from a cookie with a bite taken out, to a pac-man, to a crescent, and then a smaller and smaller sliver. As the shadow grew, so did the anticipation. The temperature fell and the field's surroundings slowly became darker and darker, and closely resembled twilight.

Indigo: We dozed, mostly. The trip was pretty bland except for the actual totality, which made it all worth it.

Describe the eclipse using only three words.

Baldwin: Breathtaking; otherworldly; emotional

Indigo: Apocalyptic. Amazing. Indescribable.

Why did you choose to go watch the eclipse?

Baldwin: I learned that this eclipse would be happening in a high school astronomy class, 17 years ago, and I made a decision then that I would not miss it. This was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the biggest astronomical event in the country. Also, of course, I love space science.

Indigo: Because it was a once in a lifetime event.

How did you feel during and after the eclipse?

Baldwin: As soon as totality occurred, people all over the field cheered. I felt emotional, excited, thrilled, amazed and humbled. It looked like sunrise in all directions. I could not tear my eyes away from the totality; we could see Venus and a few other stars, and between the moon's shadow and the sun's corona, we could see solar flares that looked like fluorescent pink dots on the outside of the sun. The corona had points on the top and bottom, and flared out in all directions. It looked like the sky from a different planet. After a few minutes the sun returned, the corona and solar flares and Venus vanished, I put the glasses back on and sat back down to watch the sun return. After the totality I felt more tired than was probably warranted, from all the excitement and from waking up early for sunrise. We walked back to my friend's house speechless, looking forward to lunch and cake, and a little nervous to drive home and start school the next day.

Indigo: I felt like the world was literally ending. You really have to see it to understand why. Pictures, videos, nothing does it justice. Which is why Mr. SILVA-BROWN should stop giving me CRAP about missing school for it.