Robert Paterson, LJI Reporter

On Monday, April 8, we will experience a total eclipse of the sun. The last time we were so fortunate to witness one here was on
July 20, 1963. The next will be in 180 years.
Brome Lake is on a very narrow track on the surface of the earth, where the April 8 total eclipse will be visible. A total solar eclipse is a rare event, occurring somewhere on earth every 18 months on average, yet it recurs at any given location only every couple of hundred years. 
The moon will start covering up the sun at 2:15 pm. The sky will get progressively darker until “Totality” occurs at 3:27 p.m. Totality will only last until 3:30 p.m. Then, the sun will begin to emerge from behind the moon. The eclipse will all be over at
4:37 p.m.. This is what the stages will look like.
Staring at the sun during the time outside of Totality can damage your sight. You must wear suitable eye protection. Use only ISO-certified-safe solar eclipse glasses and viewers, and keep them on while the sun is not yet fully eclipsed. Once the sky suddenly turns dark and the solar corona appears, you can take off your eclipse glasses or viewers to look at the sun’s amazing corona. 
At the time of Totality during a solar eclipse the world goes pitch black. Ancient peoples feared that this presaged terrible events in the future. No wonder learning how to predict such events drove the early science of astronomy. It is not only humans that are affected. If a total eclipse occurs in the summer, flowers close as if at night. Birds settle and may fall asleep when the light returns and nature wakes up again.
This article was produced with help from Paul Luc Girard, whose passion for astronomy resulted from his witnessing the 1963 eclipse as a boy.
Here is an excellent Montreal-based site with much more information about what is happening. It also tells you where to buy solar glasses and how to watch the sun safely.
https://www.eclipsequebec.ca/observer-de-maniere-securitaire