As the eclipse drew eyes heavenward, lessons were taught on solid ground.
By Charly SHELTON

The great eclipse of the summer passed from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina on Monday and, though Los Angeles was not within the path of totality (where the moon can be seen fully covering the sun), residents across the Crescenta Valley headed outside to get a view of the partial eclipse. When the moon passed between the Earth and the sun, it cast a shadow that ran across the country and attracted stargazers to see the rare celestial occurrence.

“Everybody, without exception, had a wonderful time,” said Bill Owen, technical staff member of the Mission Design and Navigation division at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was working the NASA booth at the Oregon State Fairgrounds viewing party in Salem. “Those who had seen eclipses before were thrilled, those who had never seen them before can’t say that anymore. The weather was perfectly clear, all the forest fires [that became a concern before the eclipse] were all south of Eugene and we had not a cloud in the sky. It was just 8,500 people oohing and ahhing, screaming and yelling.
There is something really special about looking up in the sky and somebody has poked a great big black hole in the middle of it where the sun is supposed to be.”

Owen, who had seen the 1990 eclipse in Baja, Mexico, noted some differences between that eclipse and Monday’s. The totality lasted only half as long this year, and only the star Sirius was visible, whereas the 1990 eclipse brought out whole constellations.

“It reminded me that they’re all different. Each one is different from the next,” Owen said.

Back home in the Crescenta Valley, local schools used the eclipse as a teachable moment. The conditions necessary for a solar eclipse to occur, even in the partial coverage that is visible in our area, are very specific. The moon revolves around the Earth at a 5° inclination, meaning it spends most of its 27-day orbit casting a shadow either above or below Earth, out into space. For an eclipse to occur, the moon needs to be within the sweet spot where it is able to cast a shadow on our level of orbit, and also to be within the right part of its cycle to be in front of the Earth, relative to the sun. In addition, the moon is traveling farther away at a rate of 1.6 inches per year. This changes the perceived size of the moon, making it look smaller when viewed from Earth and blocking less of the sun. All of this and more became practical learning for students in science classes across the school district.

“So, basically, what we learned … is the difference between a lunar and a solar eclipse and why this is so significant, why it’s so rare,” said Rosemont eighth grade science teacher Krista McMillin. “We have a perfect storm of alignment going on and, as time goes on, as the moon moves further and further away from the earth, it won’t eventually block out the sun entirely. So it’s a very unique event. It’s unique that it crosses North America, that they all line up perfectly and that the ratio of the sun, the distance, the moon and the Earth [cast the shadow] perfectly.”

The most crucial lesson to impress upon the students was the importance of eye protection. School organizations provided eclipse viewing glasses or lenses to students and teachers for safe viewing. With emergency rooms and optometrist offices across the country swamped with day-of and day-after visitors who defied common sense and stared directly into the sun, the dangers of retinal damage were taught to the students so they would not be among the injured.

“We don’t have nerves in our retinas, and it will slowly burn off without us even knowing,” said Rosemont eighth grader Anthony Sharlakian.

The next solar eclipse that can be seen in America will be in April 2024, tracing the shadow path from Durango, Texas, up through Little Rock, Arkansas, Cleveland, Ohio, and Buffalo, New York before passing into Ontario, Canada.

“And I already got my reservations in with a friend who lives outside of Cleveland,” Owen said. “When you see one, you just can’t wait for the next.”

The Great American Eclipse

By Todd Thornbury

Do you know anyone personally who has been to Outer Mongolia? My late father, Tom Thornbury, saw his first of many total solar eclipses there in 2008 so when I heard of the Great American Eclipse of 2017 I racked my brains as to how best to celebrate this event. More on that in a moment. 

In 1980, while I was a senior at CV High, my father and I searched for a classic Corvette to fix up and enjoy on the weekends. The prices of the older Corvettes were starting to increase and he had always wanted one but, because of his college expenses, us kids and starting a new business, he had be relegated to driving a VW instead – but business was good and getting better! After months of looking at many candidates, we found a beautiful, low miles 1965 Stingray in the right condition and right color at the fair price of $7,500. In 1980 that was big bucks for a used car, but dad knew that it would only appreciate in value. For the next 16 years, my father and I enjoyed driving this classic American icon to car shows, on trips and, for a while, as a daily driver. It was so well used that it currently has a quarter of a million miles on the clock and still looks fantastic. 

After a decade and a half of memorable experiences, Dad decided he was going to sell the family Vette. I was bummed, as I now had college debt, young kids and had started my own business, preventing me from buying it. What I didn’t know was he was pulling my leg about selling it and gave me the title and keys as a wonderful 35th birthday present! I have now owned it longer than he did and have kept it in tip-top shape. Last weekend you may have seen it at the Montrose movie night parked up front looking as majestic as always!

So back to the Great American Eclipse and where to experience it. Had my father been alive he no doubt would have been in Oregon or Nashville or Charleston seeing the big event. Should Stephanie and I go to one of these destinations without Dad? Then it hit me. Get up Monday morning and polish the Corvette, take a spin and spend the morning with dad at his resting place at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. As life teaches all of us, no one gets out of here alive as death is inevitable. I have learned to celebrate the experiences and memories of loved ones passed and Monday was an opportunity to be embraced and enjoyed with my father’s memory of Corvette journeys and total eclipses in far off lands.

Thank you, Dad, for all you taught me and for giving me the responsibility of taking care of one of Detroit’s most beautiful machines ever built! I enjoyed our morning together.

Todd Thornbury

La Crescenta

The Unexpected Surprise of Fresh Hope During the Eclipse

By Kimberlie Zakarian

This is a picture of patterned leaves that I took Monday, Aug. 21 at Glendale Community College. These patterned leaves on the pavement were part of several short interactions with people that instilled a belief in me that day. They represent a moment in time that changed my view of mankind. Sound dramatic? Not in light of what is presently occurring in our world. To me I felt fresh hope in mankind through the interactions I had during the eclipse.

On Monday, I was able to feel encouraged about humanity. We all gathered to view something greater than ourselves. Something outside of our control. Something that proves there is something, or someone, more powerful than ourselves.

When the planetarium ran out of viewing glasses, I viewed something far greater. As I walked up to the building, a little boy, maybe 10 years old, offered me a look through his lenses. Make note, “his lenses.” His untarnished, innocent, selfless lens in which he views life. Pure, helpful, generous, and kind.

A few minutes later, a well-dressed man offered his lenses to my daughter. He then encouraged me to take a look. The eclipse itself was a wonder to behold. After this, he led us to the planetarium where we could view the total eclipse in the path of totality being streamed live by NASA.

On the way there, another young boy, maybe 11 years old, showed us a view through a pinprick in a leaf. He actually stopped us and excitedly explained how it worked. His brother, just as friendly, showed us a view through his fingers held tightly in a circle, leaving a small space that cast the image on the ground. The first boy pointed us to the pattern on the ground that the leaves made explaining it was the organic form of what he had created by putting a hole in his handheld leaf. I had read and seen pictures of the patterns trees make during an eclipse and was thankful he pointed it out as I may not have thought to look down walking to the planetarium. Their father then interjected that it was now the peak time to view the eclipse and offered us his glasses. As I interacted with these wonderful people, hope stirred within me.

Hope of unity. Hope of an acknowledgement in sharing a common awe of creation that is far greater than disunity, differences, and taking sides to fight one another. Hope of people being on the same side instead of taking sides and building walls against our fellow humans.

HOPE that maybe, just maybe, we are raising a generation that embraces our sameness, will strive for unity, crush prejudice and bigotry, and view our great nation and amazing world as a commonality to be protected, shown gratitude, and kept safe.

Young men, fathers, and businessmen instilled a new hope in this woman, mother, daughter, psychotherapist and citizen that we CAN find unity again. That mankind is not completely corrupt. And that good can outweigh evil.

Parents, grandparents, siblings, sons and daughters, leaders, mentors, those with a voice – teach and model! It took only five people today to help me regain my faith in people and give me hope that we can and will gain a better future if we each use our voice for good. If we all, at certain times during our day, take the time to show an act of kindness, right a wrong, model a lesson wordlessly, point out a good deed, speak justice, and acknowledge injustice rather than turn a blind eye- we can change our world.

It takes just one. Just five. Simply, any or all of us to change history for the positive.

Be that one. Teach another.

I know I will be.

Kimberlie Zakarian, LMFT

Psychotherapist, Montrose

  Charly Shelton, KIMBERLIE ZAKARIAN, Todd Thornbury