Eclipse In The Shipyards

Today’s eclipse reminded me of another solar eclipse in the late 1970s. I was welding on a barge, working on a repair on a mounting brace for the product loading manifold. The manifold is how we connect to shore pumps to load and unload petroleum barges. The two center mounts had rusted at the deck, so I had to cut away the mounts to get rid of the rust. I welded a plate to the barge deck, then welded new bottom-half support braces from the deck plates to the manifold support. I finished a rod and lifted my hood to put a fresh rod in the stinger when I noticed the bright, sunny day had turned to night, even though it was the middle of the day. I looked up, and there was not a cloud in the sky. I thought that was interesting, then went back to welding. That night on the news, Walter Cronkite said that if parts of the US noticed the darkness during the day, there was a solar eclipse.

Funny how times have changed. In the last few days, I have heard everything from conspiracy theories about electrical grid shutdowns to the rapture happening because there was going to be a solar eclipse. Have we, as a society, grown less intelligent and more frightened by a shadow that would cross our country? I am thankful I put my faith in the one true God. If there were, in fact, the rapture, you would no longer see me here…

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