If you were in Erie, Pennsylvania on April 8, 2024, you were likely outside at 3 p.m. The clouds in the sky had thankfully parted around the eclipse, and many people were with their families or friends staring up at the sky. I spent the day with my family and friends, going outside at 2:02 p.m. when partial coverage started and watching the moon slowly overtake the sun during the eclipse. I will admit I was getting a bit tired of hearing about it near the day of the event, but I felt that day like it did deserve the extra attention. The sky plunged into darkness and the horizon resembled a horizon in all directions. Checking my phone was the last thing on my mind for once. 

Many people felt the exact same way on Monday. Cloudflare, a cloud service that currently hosts around 20 percent of all websites, reported that internet usage dropped approximately 40 to 60 percent at 3:20 p.m. yesterday. The states with partial coverage such as New York dropped around 30 percent. In areas like Erie, the drop was over half of all people. I saw people everywhere in the moment, pulled over on the side of the road and watching the sky. I can easily believe that so many people were not online on Monday.

This has left me with a lot of thoughts about internet usage and the world as a whole. On April 8, almost everyone was engaged with the people and environment around them. Everyone seemed cheerier leading up to and after the eclipse. Is there a way to replicate this? I honestly suspect that the reason people are so happy is because they put aside distractions and engaged in the world around them for a few hours. That is not something you have to wait for a nationwide event for. The marvels of nature are not often as visible as they were on Monday, but if you look around, there is something to be amazed by in your surroundings every day. I hope that the eclipse can inspire more questions and time in nature as a whole.