The month we've been waiting for is finally here. We are only weeks away now from the total solar eclipse of Aug. 21, which will sweep from coast to coast across the entire continental United States. Millions of people will be positioned to witness this once-in-a-lifetime celestial event in which the moon casts its shadow on the earth, blocking the sun from the sky. You might know someone who has experienced a total eclipse, but for most of us here in Kankakee, this will be something we have never witnessed before.

So what will it be like? It's important to remember that the sun will only be totally eclipsed along a narrow path. As I've mentioned before, luckily for us, this swath of complete shadow passes through southern Illinois, so we don't have to travel far to witness it.

For those of us who stay behind, what can we expect to see (assuming the sky is clear)? Because I've never seen this sight myself, I'm going to rely on the words of two who have. They are not scientists but rather two American writers (fitting for the Great American Eclipse). Annie Dillard wrote an essay titled "Total Eclipse" on the eclipse she witnessed in 1979 from Washington state, and much earlier, the writer James Fenimore Cooper wrote a detailed account of a total eclipse visible from the United States in 1806. As we approach the event, we'll take a moment to experience it through their descriptions.

From Kankakee, seconds before 11:54 a.m. on Aug. 21, the edge of the moon will begin to move onto the face of the sun. Dillard said of this initial event that is was as though "a piece of the sun went away." The moon, which is only visible as something obscuring a portion of the sun, makes it look as though the sun is simply disappearing. The process is slow, and in Kankakee, we won't reach maximum coverage of 91 percent of the sun blocked until 1:20 p.m. For more than an hour then, the moon will be sliding slowly over the sun.

At maximum, though, the sky won't get dark. The light will dim, as most of the sun will be blocked. Cooper wrote that as his eclipse continued, "The birds ... seemed now convinced that night was at hand. Swallows were dimly seen dropping into the chimneys, the martins returned to their little boxes, the pigeons flew home to their dove-cots, and through the open door of a small barn we saw the fowls going to roost."

The sliver of the sun that still is visible will appear as a very bright crescent moon. Here's how Cooper described it: "The sun appeared like a young moon of three or four days old, though of course with a larger and more brilliant crescent." Yet, as Dillard explained, "During a partial eclipse the sky does not darken ... However, during a partial eclipse the air does indeed get cold, precisely as if someone were standing between you and the fire." Cooper noted that "the usual flood of sunlight had now become so much weakened, that we could look upward long, and steadily, without the least pain." What Cooper did not realize, though, and the reason you always should use eye protection when viewing a partial eclipse, is that even though the narrowed sun doesn't feel as if it's hurting your eyes, 9 percent of the sun can do damage just as easily as 100 percent.

And that's as much as we'll see here in Kankakee: a sun mostly blocked by the moon. After 1:20 p.m., the sun will become more and more visible as the moon moves past, with the eclipse completely over by 2:45 p.m. What if we travel south, though? What will those who have the chance to witness a total solar eclipse experience? Dillard said the difference between a partial solar eclipse and a total solar eclipse is like the difference between kissing someone and marrying someone or the difference between flying in an airplane and falling out of an airplane. "What you see in an eclipse is entirely different from what you know." I'll let you find her essay and read it, as her description is wonderful and quite dramatic. (Her essays are published in her collection titled "Teaching a Stone to Talk," a revised edition of which was published by Harper Perennial in 2013). A bit more accessible, though, is Cooper's description:

"Looking westward a moment, a spark appeared to glitter before my eye. For a second I believed it to be an optical illusion, but in another instant I saw it plainly to be a star. One after another they came into view, more rapidly than in the evening twilight, until perhaps 50 stars appeared to us, in a broad, dark zone of the heavens, crowning the pines on the western mountain. This wonderful vision of the stars, during the noontide hours of day, filled the spirit with singular sensations. ... A few cows, believing that night had overtaken them, were coming homeward from the wild open pastures about the village ... [T]he darkness was now much deeper than the twilight which usually turns their faces homeward; the dew was falling perceptibly, as much so as at any hour of the previous night, and the coolness was so great that the thermometer must have fallen many degrees from the great heat of the morning. The lake, the hills, and the buildings of the little town were swallowed up in the darkness. ... All labor had ceased, and the hushed voices of the people only broke the absolute stillness by subdued whispering tones."

Both writers talk about the absolute sense of awe that a total eclipse engenders and humility at the realization that something as simple as the moon passing silently in front of the sun can bring about such profound changes. (You can read Cooper's essay "The Eclipse" at AmericanLiterature.com.)

In southern Illinois, we'll have about two and a half minutes of total dark during the eclipse, time to see the stars come out and experience some of the things Cooper described. If we are favored with clear skies, what stars and planets will we see? Because the sun is moving through the spring constellations during the autumn months, it will be very close to the bright star Regulus, which will appear very near the eclipsed sun. Mars and Mercury also will be visible, with Mars to the west and Mercury to the east. Farther to the west, Venus will be visible, between the bright stars Pollux and Procyon. And Jupiter will be up as well, in the east and just above the bright star Spica. In short, we'll get a lovely celestial display in the middle of the day.

As the day approaches, consider yourself suitably forewarned. An eclipse is definitely something to be seen, and it still might not be too late to plan a last-minute dash down south on Aug. 21. Wherever you are, though, remember that as long as any of the sun's face is visible, you shouldn't be looking at it with the naked eye and you should NEVER be viewing it through telescopes or binoculars without proper filters. Grab your eclipse glasses or look at the many methods of viewing the sun projected on a surface that are outlined on the internet. (Check out the suggestions from NASA at eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-viewing.) But make plans to experience it. Who knows, in a few decades we might be reading your account of that day.