Totally into totality

Ahead of the total solar eclipse earlier this month, we shared the story of some area residents who were about to travel southward to view the total solar eclipse. While the sun and partial solar event here on April 8 were eclipsed by clouds and rain, a couple locals we connected with earlier were able experience totality.

Sarah Wooderson-Cotant on the road with her husband Andy in Illinois called the total eclipse a “fabulous experience” and likened it to a 360-degree sunset.

Meanwhile, Joshua Kerwood, who traveled to Paris, Texas with his extended family, called it awesome, worth the 1,874-mile trip completed over six days.

“When totality occurred, my wife and our children finally believed all the stories that I had told them the last time I was able to view a total eclipse back in 2017,” Kerwood said. “The sky grew dark, the birds quieted and returned to their nests, solar lights turned on, and the temperature dropped severely. Two of my kids even put on their sweatshirts for those few minutes. The 360-degree sunset put my mom into a state of awe that I have never seen from her before. My three youngest children, 18-month-old twins and our 3-year-old, were all sucked into their tiny camp chairs with their eyes glued to the sky. They lovingly called it the ‘star moon’ not realizing how accurate they were.”

Kerwood said he was so engrossed with how much his family was loving the awesome celestial event that it wasn’t his primary focus despite the array of equipment he had set up to capture the eclipse -- although he did manage to record the entire eclipse and shoot as many images as possible.

The Cotants based out of St Louis, studied the maps and weather, and decided to head into Illinois.

“We ended up at Wayne Fitzgerald State Park,” said Sarah Cotant. “There were several people there but not terribly crowded. The weather was perfect -- 70s and sunny.”

The eclipse began around 12:45 p.m. there with full totality just after 2, she reported – longer than what the couple experienced the last time there was a total eclipse across the United States in 2017.

“People started cheering when totality started, lots of excitement,” she said. “It looked like sunset 360 degrees around us. We could see Jupiter and Venus. It got very cold. Totality lasted around three minutes. Lots of people taking pictures and enjoying the view.”

Clapping began again once totality ended and the solar show was over.

“We left about 15 minutes after and began a long journey home,” Cotant said. “Lots of traffic and me using my map skills – ha! ha! – to get us on back roads to head north again.”

As one report recounted, “It was a day when millions of Americans became one under the sun.”