Eclipse

There is a partial eclipse of the sun today. The usual reminders to the public have been repeated, yet I've seen three adults look directly at the sun and then complain that they can't see.

There is something atavistic about being outside during an eclipse or partial eclipse. A certain lack to the harshness of the sun's rays, an awareness of the lack of birdsong (exept for the crows, ancient haribingers of disaster); a certain grey cast to the light in contrast to its usual clarity.
In ancient times during an eclipse, people would go outsíde and bang on pots and pans to frighten away the monster that was devouring the sun. The ancient Chinese told stories of a dragon eating the sun; the ancient Egyptians claimed it was Set gaining the upper hand for a while in his fight with Horus ... Given the events in my life in the last couple of weeks that have seen one friend assaulted and me narrowly miss collecting a chunk of tree trunk with the car, I think I can understand why the ancients, almost with out fail, considered an eclipse to be a Bad Thing!

Yet there is a part of me that revels in the change in the light; that relishes the atavistic urge to make a noise to frighten off what is devouring the sun; that wonders at what might be dislovered by the scientific community involved in watching the event (and half envious of those with a better view of the event).

I think that I will have an interesting evening tracking information about this eclipse down - first port of call will be Perth's own obsevatory ... or possibly the CSIRO, always a good place to go looking for interesting stuff too!