Looking out at the dense, early morning fog, I wondered if the total solar eclipse would live up to the hype.
I am confined to a maximum security prison, and my facility is located in the southeast corner of Missouri, about 30 minutes away from Illinois and Kentucky — smack dab in the eclipse’s path of totality.
At 10 a.m., I went out to the recreation yard and found a secluded spot to sit, think and observe. I watched as starlings, finches and pigeons went about their spring mating and nest-building rituals. No prisoners had viewing glasses, and we all anticipated the lockdown of the facility for security purposes. I counted my own chances of seeing the eclipse right up there with my chances of seeing Santa.
After lunch, I proceeded to my work assignment at the gymnasium. I noticed some other recreation workers and staff members gathered outside near the softball field. As the eclipse began, I noticed that the sunlight seemed strange, dimming in one area but remaining bright in the distance. Soon, staff closed the yard, and recreation workers and staff relocated into the gym. Recreation staff opened the two large garage-type doors at the front, permitting a view of the sky.
Recreation staff, teachers, caseworkers and guards gathered alongside prisoners and shared their protective viewing glasses. The wonder of this mighty event brought the keepers and the kept together, if only for a few short minutes.
I noticed a group of seven or eight large starlings. They had gathered together in one corner of our softball field, as if to talk about this strange event unfolding. They weren’t the only ones affected by this cosmic occurrence.
As totality arrived and the prison yard lights flickered to life, I watched some of Missouri’s most hardened convicts and prison staff as they looked to the heavens with child-like excitement. I found myself trying to observe everything around me. This was something special, something I would not have witnessed at any other prison, and something I will never experience again.
To punctuate the event, a fireworks display, put on by one of the city’s businesses, could be seen and heard by all.
But nothing could compare to the show put on by our own solar system.
