Eclipse day at Canyonlands National Park! The run up to totality is an odd mixture of anticipation and boredom as celestial bodies prefer their slow, considered movements across our celestial view. The light starts to turn…weird. It’s hard to describe. Almost like Ra patiently held out a gray camera lens filter between us and the sun. Everything painted in this filtered view was just…less. The campground’s dogs began howling in confusion, Willow maintained her vigilance positioned squarely in the center of our bed, while typically-talkative Frankie fell silent.

But it takes a while for the moon, streaking across the morning sky at 2,288 mph, to catch up with Earth’s rotation. The first sliver of shadow’s excitement quickly ceded to, “how can I occupy myself for the next hour?”

Boredom steadily diminished as anticipation grew in proportion to the moon’s obscuration until it was a giant C in the sky. Nearly all conversation quelled as eyes turned upward to the disappearing morning sun. Once the C turned into an O—the ring of fire!—there erupted a giant cheer from the campers as we sat, mesmerized, by the spectacle. I fiddled for a few seconds with the sub-par $7.98 camera filter from Amazon, failing to get my iPhone to focus, decided it wasn’t worth it and rejoined the collective amazement. Our pets, I surmise, did not share in the amazement. Within a couple of minutes, the eclipse, like an experienced entertainer, called it quits, leaving the huddled masses desperately wanting more.