UNITED STATES—I have not seen so many Americans fascinated with space and astronomy. I am referring to Monday, April 8 because the Solar Eclipse is about to take place across the United States. We are talking about 100 percent totality of the Moon blocking the Sun’s rays hitting Earth. Truth be told this is a once in a life-time event and it feels like something that I am getting more and more excited for by the minute the more people talk about it.

During this event, parts of the country stretching from Texas to Maine will go dark as the Sun, Earth and the Moon perfectly align. This event is expected to last about four4 minutes from everything I have been seeing on TV and reading online. I can recall when I was a youngster; I want to say maybe eight or nine a similar event transpired while I was in grade school.

The event was so big the school wouldn’t even let us go outside during recess because of the danger to the eyes of kids if we looked directly at the sun without those special eclipse glasses. That is the problem; you cannot tell a child NOT to do something, because it only gives them more of an incentive to want to do it. That curious mind just makes you want to look up at the sun to see exactly what will happen if you do it without those special glasses.

Hell, my nieces and nephews have been asking me about it and I have tried relentlessly to explain to them the dangers of the invisible rays coming from the sun during this once in a life-time event. Everyone is asking me to get some of these glasses, and my response is simple, “I don’t know where to get them from.” Even though there has been plenty of chatter in my neck of the woods of places to go to get those special glasses.

Yes, I am in close proximity of where the Total Solar Eclipse will take place. If anything, I would only have to drive about an hour to see this special aligning of the Sun, Moon and the Earth, and to be honest I am slightly giddy about it. Can you imagine seeing parts of the United States go dark for several minutes and watching what takes place during that time frame? How people will react, how bright or dark will it be outside, how will nature respond, what will happen with animals, will the temperature change? I have so many questions and not enough answers.

This rarely happens. I think the next time this is slated to occur is August 23, 2044 and then after that it will be September 14, 2099 when another Total Solar Eclipse will grace multiple parts of the United States. Yeah, many of us won’t be alive when that transpires in 2099, so what is unfolding in 2024 is rare and an opportunity to see something that will NOT only be iconic , but something not witnessed by many generations.

Space is always something intriguing because we are eager to know what else is out there and what transpires in space that we just don’t know about. There are things cooking out there, there are things taking place and the Sun has always been a fascinating thing. It heats up the planet, but at the same time its intensity is considered so dangerous it makes us wonder what happens if it exploded, ceased to exist or what if it drifted towards Earth.

It does make one wonder exactly why more companies are not considering this once in a lifetime event, as an opportunity to allow workers to experience it and actually have a few minutes off of work as this unfolds. I’m hearing the time frame starts at 1:58 p.m., and varies from there depending on where you are located in the U.S. and the path of totality. For Michigan, that takes place at 3:14 p.m. EST when this Total Solar Eclipse unfolds. So get prepared America, it is something unlike what you will ever see again.

Written By Davy Jones