It's called the "Great American Eclipse" and it's coming to a location near you soon, if you're willing to do a little traveling.
I'm talking about the total solar eclipse that's expected to take place Aug. 21, darkening a 71-mile "path of totality" across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina. Sounds ominous, doesn't it
No need, however, to fear this cosmic event as our ancestors may have done centuries ago. Like most things that our species doesn't initially understand, we immediately fear them. A solar eclipse must have felt like the end of the world to primitive mankind.
Then again, in many ways we should continue to be called a primitive species, fearing too many things we still don't understand. For example, presidential Tweets and a national health care plan.
Hopefully, this upcoming total solar eclipse will give us a sunny reprieve from such dark issues that loom over us every day.
"There are several interesting things about eclipses," said Norman Hairston, 59, of Gary, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Events such as an eclipse rekindles everyone's interest in astronomy and what is going on with the sky."
Too often, Earthlings stare into the sky only when we fear something – a wicked storm coming our way, or loud noises from aircraft overhead. It's more uncommon for us Chicken Littles to stop staring into our handheld electronic devices long enough to gaze at the awe-inspiring grandeur of the cosmos.
The sky hasn't fallen despite primordial fears that continue to surge through our veins.
"Until recent times, eclipses always arrived unexpectedly and were taken as omens for one thing or another," said Hairston, a Gary West Side High School graduate. "Often they caused people to take actions they otherwise would not have. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy that eclipses portended chaos."
Chaos, I should note, can be interpreted as the polar opposite of the word cosmos, according to Greek mythology's attempts to define the creation of our universe. Chaos was feared as a dark void of emptiness before the creation of the godly cosmos.
Here we are in 2017 still fearing the emptiness of chaos on earth while staring above at a godly cosmos of true order and possibly perfection.
"Occasionally, there are genuinely new things in the sky, such as a comet, that no one has seen before. But most changes in the sky are completely predictable," said Hairston, who also earned a MBA from Stanford University. "For instance, there will be a blood moon next summer as the moon passes in the shadow of the earth."
The Bible, in the English standard version of Acts 2:20, states, "The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day."
Does this mean Jesus is returning Aug. 22? I don't see it in the stars. Maybe you do.
"Many ancient civilizations had some form of an observatory to study the sky," Hairston said. "The main purpose was to tell farmers when to plant. It also told people when to celebrate various holidays."
On Jan. 22, 1879, 1,700 British soldiers were killed in a surprise attack by Zulu warriors during South Africa's Zulu War. The tribesmen either knew about a solar eclipse expected on that day, or they quickly took advantage of it, depending of which version you believe.
In any case, that battle was later named by the Zulu warriors as "the day of the dead moon." It sounds so aboriginal until you compare it with our modern day attempts to explain what we don't understand.
For example, it was an eclipse that provided the first evidence that Einstein's Theory of Relativity was indeed correct, Hairston said.
"When stars close to the sun were seen in the day – with the moon blocking the sun's light – the star's location in the sky was moved exactly as Einstein had predicted," he said. "This is termed gravitational lensing."
More currently, the latest total solar eclipse visible in this country took place in 1979. I don't recall it, though I was likely told all about it by my high school science teacher.
"Look, up in the sky!" he probably told me, echoing that iconic line from "Superman."
I have no idea if I actually did.
I will, however, look up in the sky Aug. 21 to see if any darkness drapes across our corner of the state. The eclipse will last only 2½ minutes at any spot along its path of totality, reaching across roughly 2,800 miles of America over 90 minutes.
While Lake and Porter counties won't get the total eclipse, it will see about 89 percent coverage, experts predict. According to https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/gary, the eclipse will start at 11:54 a.m.. By about 1:20 p.m., only a sliver of the sun will be visible. By 2:43 p.m., the event will be over, the website shows.
Several Northwest Indiana residents, including Hairston, have plans to travel south that day to experience the eclipse's true beauty.
"I'm trying to talk the family into driving to Kentucky for the day," Hairston said.
Chris Heath of Valparaiso plans to drive to South Carolina with his girlfriend, and possibly her son who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is in a wheelchair.
"He requires 24/7 care and we are trying to raise money to cover the travel costs to pull this off for him," said Heath, who created a GoFundMe page for the adventure.
An estimated 12 million Americans live in the predicted path of the eclipse, but possibly millions more are making similar arrangements to travel to its path. The town of Hopkinsville, Ky., where I used to spend summer vacations with my relatives, has been labeled as the best viewing site in the country.
Of course, the town has done its best to take financial advantage of this cosmic gift. Then again, so has our country by labeling this remarkable celestial alignment nothing less than, ahem, the Great American Eclipse.