Eclipse 2024

We went to Lincoln Nebraska in 2017 for the #eclipse. We thought we saw an eclipse. The sky darkened, the birds quieted, we sat in a back yard and had snacks.

We didn’t see an eclipse. Today we saw an ECLIPSE. Full #totality. We set our chairs up just down the hill from the Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana. We were loaded for all kinds of eventualities, large crowds, traffic, we had bags of snacks and all kinds of water, radios, a full tank of gas, we were ready. We got there early and set up our chairs facing south so we could see the full transit of the sun. Like going to the concerts on the square in Madison we staked our claim.

As it turned out there was a very small, polite crowd of sun worshipers. There may have been a somewhat roudy crowd down the street but not here. We shared the field with about 15 other people.

The sky was stunning. Better than we could have ever hoped for (as you can see above) Our glasses were perfect. We watched the first small bit taken out by the moon and watched as the sun was slowly consumed.

After our experience in Lincoln 7 years ago we knew what to expect.

We didn’t.

The light put out by the sun is powerful enough that we really didn’t notice much change in daylight until about 95%, and I think the birds noticed before we did. The light started to dim, the streetlights came on and then like snapping a switch the lights went out and totality began. The picture my brother-in-law is good but doesn’t do the justice as does the naked eye. A darkened disk surrounded by brilliant corona. The birds quieted, a couple hoot owls started conversing and we saw with our own eyes what all those pretty magazine pictures try to convey.

Totality was supposed to be about 4 minutes where we were. If so, it was the fastest 4 minutes I ever remember. We saw moving coronal activity while in totality and I thought I saw a red spot at about 5 o’clock on the disk. Two “stars” appeared along the Ellipses, Jupiter and (I believe) Venus. While I missed it the rest of our party commented on the the 360 degree sunset, during totality. We didn’t see the “diamond ring” when entering totality but it was brilliantly obvious when coming out. When the sun returned those gathered joined in grateful applause for the spectacle.

It took 68 years to get here but it was worth it.

We sat for another hour or so while the moon moved away uncovered the sun, for a while looking, in my glasses, like an olive missing its pimiento. Now I wait a while to find out where I missed applying sun screen!

Finally, in honor of the day’s event. Here is the beverage I ordered for brunch.