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Perspective: Whose side were you on during that solar eclipse?

Parisians view the solar eclipse of July 28, 1851
Parisians view the solar eclipse of July 28, 1851

My friends had a great solar eclipse. I did not.

 

I'm not a big fan of the moon. What does it do other than govern the tides -- and I've never lived on a coast to become interested in that.

 

Adults asked me as a kid if I saw the Man on the Moon. I didn't and felt stupid. My favorite cousin thinks the 1969 moon walk was filmed in a Burbank TV studio. I like the guy too much to disagree.

 

People can hold their hands to their faces and block me out, even though I'm much bigger than their hand. I resent this, and I suspect the sun resents it as well.

 

We can't do without the sun. The moon is just a bothersome extra.

 

Tom McBride is co-author of the annual Beloit College Mindset List. He is a specialist in Shakespeare. For 42 years he taught at Beloit, where he won an award for excellence in teaching. He also coordinated the Mackey Distinguished Writers' Program and the First Year Initiatives Program.