Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X I X 72 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine O urs was a predawn 444-mile round trip mis- sion from Cumberland to the path of eclipse totality in southern Aroostook County. Our hope was that Sherman or Patten would be great because they're small, pretty towns with big open fields and gorgeous views of Katahdin. Our logic was that because the area is so rural (versus Jackman, Rangeley, Greenville or Houlton) there probably wouldn't be many people. Bigtime whoops! We wound up on Route 11 in Patten by a pretty hill with a great view. e problem was twofold. First, there were way too many people and multiple Aroostook County Sheriff 's deputies were asking countless motorists to move their cars because they didn't want parking on both sides of the highway. Second, the first available spot we could find was next to a large dairy farm manure pile at the base of the hill. is didn't seem like 'Maine, the way (eclipse) life should be.' I called a friend who grew up in neighboring Crystal (population 248) and she suggested Belvedere Road as an excellent spot for us. She was right. I love the natural world and figured this event would be special. It was, but in its own super special class of special. e speed with which the near darkness sud- denly envelops you is breathtaking. e temperature drops noticeably, and it gets dark suddenly but not totally dark. For a photographer it's a magical, beau- tiful 'twilight dark.' e subtle yellows, blues and browns in the dim eclipse twilight are so pretty. e total eclipse felt cosmic and magical and surreal and 30 other words that also almost accu- rately describe how uniquely amazing it is. It feels like a connection to the cosmos. It was humbling as the gorgeously striking white of the sun's corona revealed itself for more than three minutes. It's a privilege to almost gaze into the magical nuclear fusion engine 93-million miles from Earth that literally gives life to us and all we know here. It feels raw and genuine and authentically special. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was speechless, then sud- denly softly said, "thank you." I didn't mean to say thank you. ose two words were reflexive. After saying them I thought about what I'd just uttered; then I thought, perfect. e sun gives life, the sun is life; in a very real way, the sun is everything. red J. Field is a photojour- nalist who has completed more than 15,000 newspaper and magazine assignments. He has been a staff photogra- pher at newspapers in Maine and Massachusetts, becoming photo director at two of them. He has done long- term projects (greater than one year) for Harvard, Boston College and Bowdoin and has taught pho- tojournalism at the University of Southern Maine for 22 years. He has worked for dozens of newspa- pers and magazines all over the U.S. and beyond. Fred is the author of "Maine Places, Maine Faces," a photojournalistic tribute to Maine and her proud people. He has earned state, regional, national and international awards for his photojournalism. A total eclipse as seen by a Maine photographer Fred Field provides the inside story — and photos — from April's eclipse S t o r y a n d p h o t o s b y F r e d J . F i e l d F P H OTO E S S AY P H O T O / RO B E R T F I E L D Fred Field, a contributing photographer for Mainebiz, found an uncrowded viewing spot in Aroostook County for the eclipse of April 8, 2024.

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