By Derek Smith
I have been an astronomer longer than I have been a musician. If not for one fork in the road, I was ready to study astrophysics or planetary sciences.
I was good at math, but did not particularly enjoy it. I was average at music, but liked it a lot. I don't know what I would have done in astronomy, because it seems to me you gotta be like one of the 100 smartest math people in the world to make a living looking at the sky. I'm a pretty bright guy, but nowhere near smart enough to make a living in that field.
I'm not saying music education was "Plan B", and I certainly have no regrets. As passionate as you all know me to be about making music with kids, I feel at least as much, if not more, passion about the study of space.
So when I was in fourth grade, a friend got me this astronomy book for my birthday, since he apparently knew me better than I knew myself. I wore those pages right off its spine. In that book, on the page describing eclipses, was a world map. The map had thin gray lines traversing the face of the Earth, with dates.
One such line was intriguing: 21 AUG 2017. A snake crossing from the Pacific Northwest down to South Carolina, passing tantalizingly close to my home. Subsequent books, gifts from my grandma, my parents, and dozens that I'd buy myself... they all had the same line.
When I was a Boy Scout camp counselor in 10th grade, I was to teach astronomy to young scouts. At camp one year, I saw a partial eclipse. This would have been July 11, 1991 at maybe 50 percent. By now. I knew I was going to be a music teacher. But I still was fascinated by the sky. While observing the eclipse that summer at OA Greager Scout Ranch I told my fellow scouts of Troop 492, "Mark your calendar for August 21, 2017."
They laughed. Who makes plans a quarter century out?
I do.
I checked the perpetual calendar in the almanac Grandma Chuck gave me... a Monday. Would school be in session? I'd be 41... probably teaching. Later, planetarium software filled in the missing details. The exact latitude and longitude most accessible to me (42.8N, 106.3W... Casper. Did I know anyone in Casper?). The time of day, 11:43 a.m.
I read up on observation tips, what to expect. I acquired a telescope - not big, but good - and a solar filter. It looked like a mylar or aluminum foil lens cap. And I made plans to be here.
Years passed. My wife Kristi knew this was a non-negotiable event in my life. I'd see an eclipse. THIS eclipse. She sighed and put up with it, but I guess it didn't bother her too much.
Soon, I found myself teaching in Albuquerque. And every year, I was despondent that school tended to start in mid-August, usually around the 15th. Would I miss the chance in 2017, if I was still down there? But no, I soon moved to Colorado and Bayfield, my forever home. It checked out! This school district tended to start later, around the 20th. And on Tuesdays! Hope!
I told my first BHS principal in 2005, I won't be at school that day, the 21st of August 2017. Then my next principal, and the one after that, who has the misfortune of being my boss this year. It was literally my second conversation with Leon Hanhardt, and I want to thank him for the opportunity to be here today, missing inservice on Monday and preparation for students starting school on Tuesday.
When I first met Toby Clouser in the Masters in Conducting Program at Colorado State University in July 2011, the first thing I noticed was he seemed to be an amazing music educator. Everyone spoke highly of this second-year candidate. He was funny and well liked. But mostly... the second thing.
He lived in Casper, Wyoming. I had called hotels at this point. They don't take reservations six years out.
But Toby did.
AND NOW, I am sleeping with my family in Toby's guest rooms in his house, the colleague turned acquaintance turned friend who he didn't even know what was gonna happen. I lie here in Toby's guest bed, my understanding, loving wife at my side, my kids in the next room, both old enough to understand and appreciate what is about to happen... Less than 12 hours from totality, followed by a 12-hour drive home through Mad Max like gas and supply shortages, and an anticipated parking lot level traffic jam all the way to the Colorado border tomorrow.
In subtle and overt ways, this eclipse has already defined a large portion of my life. It's not the most important event by a long shot. But my diplomas, wedding, and kids' birthdays all came within a few years at most. This date has been the longest anticipated event of my entire life, spanning decades since I was 8 years old.
It's now 23 past midnight on 21 AUG 2017. I am at 42.8N, 106.3W in Casper Wyoming... 11 hours, 20 minutes and 20 seconds to totality.
And I couldn't be more ready.
Derek Smith is the music director at Bayfield High School. And yes, he and his family made it back home to Colorado after the eclipse.
