A solar eclipse is caused by an angry bear biting the sun when it refused to move out of his way.
Beliefs of the indigenous Indian tribe Pomo of Northern California
It was early in the morning, and we all slowly filled with anticipation. We had our glasses which, as we found out, significantly increased in a monetary value with the time of the eclipse coming. The sun was still up and bright, and the occasional cloud didn’t ruin our excitement. We were ready for a big day.
I looked at Bentley and saw a slight change in his behavior. He followed me closer, as if not wanting to lose me from his sight. The time around noon was his nap time, but he was awake. He kept looking up at me as wanting to find out my intentions.
I looked through my glasses and saw the sun starting to miss a slight sliver on its right side. Bentley kept clinging to my leg. Then the air became darker, murkier, and one could see the gray shadow over our neighborhood. The sun was still bright, but the neighborhood was changing. Suddenly, Bentley walked away from me and hid in a farthest and darkest corner of our patio. His head hidden from the world.
I looked around and saw leaves and tree branches waving and shaking. The wind picked up, and I felt that the air got cooler. Bentley ran toward the door and wedged his nose between the panel and its frame.
Inside, he hid in the corner, didn’t even look at the window.
I stayed outside and turned my head around. The quiet was striking. Just stillness. Birds, always busy and chirpy in the morning, all were gone, and it felt as it always feels after darkness.
Chris looked around and said, “Can you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“The crickets!”
Then I noticed the familiar, calming sounds. But it never happened in the middle of the day. Usually at or after the sundown.
I looked through my glasses and saw the bear ate most of the sun’s circle.
Went back to be with Bentley, who was hiding in the far corner of the house. He always does it during thunderstorms. I touched him. He wasn’t shaking as he does during the bad and loud weather, but wasn’t social at all. Looked as if wanting to be left alone, but I stayed with him.
In a half-an-hour, it was over. Grayness was gone, clouds were gone, and through my glasses, I only saw a small bite of the sun, this time on its left side. Still no bear around.
Bentley got up, looked around and walked to the door. His nose wedged to the frame as if saying, “I want to play now.”
