Editorial: Eclipse brings people together to look at the sky

On Monday, Aug. 21, strangers talked to strangers, shared special glasses, and looked skyward to admire the wonders of the universe.
It was the 2017 Solar Eclipse that grabbed the imaginations of people from coast to coast and even in the small town of Belleville, where adults with children in tow lined up around the block at the Belleville Area District Library to get the free NASA glasses and look up together to marvel at the universe and its workings.
Belleville Fire Chief Brian Loranger said he and Van Buren Township Fire Chief Amy Brow were out golfing on Monday. She had the special glasses so they took turns gazing skyward to see the eclipse.
Everywhere you went, the eclipse was the topic of discussion and people who barely spoke on other days, laughed together and shared their glasses and their pinhole “old-fashioned” paper plates and other contraptions to see the eclipse safely.
Library aides took pictures of Belleville Police Officers joining in the fun to look at the eclipse, while nearby the shadow of tree leaves produced dozens of eclipse formations.
Workers said, “We can take time off. It’s the ECLIPSE!” And, they did and nobody cared.
This is something that will be remembered for a long time by all who looked skyward. Mankind gazing into the heavens, as in eons past.