Monday, my aunt and uncle hosted an eclipse part on their farm near the Missouri River. Everyone came in. I saw cousins that I haven't seen in more than 15 years. The day started out questionable, with a fair number of clouds. Totality was going to be at 1:09 p.m. and at 12:30, it was still cloudy at the farm. We could see blue sky just to the south, though, so a bunch of us jumped in cars and headed for clear skies. A couple of miles from the farm, we came over a hill and the sun was shining on some grain bins. Sunlight! We pulled off the road at the top of a hill in a spot that was big enough for everyone who left the party. I was able to get my camera set up, complete with a mylar solar filter sheet held on the lens with rubberbands (I really should have taken a picture of that with my phone).
The light was already dimming and flat by the time we got there. Then, all of a sudden, it was dark and we could see stars, Venus, and the solar corona. The birds settled down into the trees and crickets started chirping. It wasn't totally pitch dark, more like late twilight. It looked like a 360 degree sunset. It was pretty incredible. Michael and I talked about how crazy it must have been to experience a total eclipse in the days before one could predict them. All of a sudden, the sun just goes dark. That would be pretty unnerving. It seemed like the totality was over as soon as it started, but looking at my pictures, it actually lasted more than two minutes.
My pictures are not super sharp, but given the setup, I'm reasonably happy with them. I'm even happier that we got to experience such a rare event.
Love it. It was a wonderful experience. Glad we got to experience it with you guys too. As the young boys keep saying, "I will remember this my whole life."
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