A Total Solar Eclipse Leaves a Nation in Awe

A Total Solar Eclipse Leaves a Nation in Awe
They hooted and hollered as the moon slowly worked its way across the sun — a sight that, with glasses, was visible through the clouds.
CHARLESTON, S. C. — The United States basked in the glory of a total eclipse on Monday, as
the moon’s shadow swept from the rocky beaches of Oregon to the marshes of South Carolina.
Over an hour and a half, along a 70-mile-wide ribbon of land, in tiny towns like Glendo, Wyo.,
and metropolises like Nashville, on dirt roads and superhighways, in modest yards and grand national parks, coastal lowlands and high mountains, the world appeared to hush for a few minutes as the moon stood up to the sun, perfectly blocking its fierce light except for the corona, the halo of hot gas that surrounds it.
With five minutes to go, the clouds opened up — to huge cheers — only to close again.
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But being in Carbondale, where totality lasted a generous 2 minutes 38 seconds, paid off.
Mr. Worstell, who like his wife is deaf, explained — by writing on a pad —
that he had always regretted that the last total eclipse in Portland, in 1979, took place under cloudy skies.