Thread by @dcpetterson

Not political, except it is:

I've seen two solar eclipses in my life. Seriously, they're the most awesome things you can ever see. Nothing compares. Maybe the birth of your kids, nothing else.

The world goes dark. It's a darkness more strange than you can imagine.

1/7

The Sun is reduced to a ghostly smoke ring. The entire horizon becomes the color of a sunset. Animals grow silent. Stars and planets peek at you.

In ancient times, people feared the world would end. Even knowing better now, your heart stops. Your breath catches.

2/7

The longer an eclipse lasts, the more your instinctual lizard brain screams at you. It's a combination of fear and exhilaration. The World is so much bigger than you! We are at the whim of the Gods of Nature, of Time and of History.

Except--you know better.

3/7

We're not helpless. We create our fate. We act, or we don't.

Yes, the tides of history are strong, but as humans, fate is in our hands.

The Hands of the Gods are at the ends of YOUR wrists.

4/7

My wife and I recently bought some land we're going to build our home to retire on, which (by coincidence, I swear) is directly in the path of an eclipse which will happen in 2045. It will be one of the longest eclipses of the 21st century.

5/7
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_ecl…

I'll be close to 90 when that eclipse happens. From the front porch of my house in the mountains, I'll see it rising in the morning over the peaks of the Rocky Mountains,

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I intend to live to see it. I intend to make the world a better place for my children and my grandchildren than it is today. I intend to help bring back the light.

The hands of the Gods are on the ends of our wrists,

Okay, this is a little bit political.

7/7

Only reason coupled with dedication can defeat fear.