Total Eclipse

The total solar eclipse was a week after we got home from Colorado. I hadn't considered going anywhere to see it because I had only noticed Kansas City on the path map. However, when I learned the night before that Lexington, NE was just barely in the path of totality and that our friends, the Clarks, were going, I decided we'd go too. I already had a pair of glasses for each of us that had been handed out free at the library, but I loved the idea of making a paper plate mask around it to make sure the kids' eyes stay covered. I gathered all the supplies to take in a bag and make once we got to our place in Lexington.

No matter what I did, my phone just was not cut out for taking pictures of the eclipse.

Kids with eclipse masks!

{Back: Thora, Katie, Emily, Tommy; Front: Dancy, Bonnie, Samson}

We sat in a grassy patch in the parking lot at the Walmart. We got there right as the moon started to pass in front of the sun. I took all the kids into Walmart for bathrooms. Lexington is an hour away from Norton and I didn't want to miss eclipse time if someone decided they needed to pee. We set up camp and I set to creating the masks while we waited for Chris to arrive with Emily and Bonnie. Chris brought SunChips to have a themed snack, but she couldn't find the Moon Pies to go with it.

Thora wasn't happy with her mask.

The beginning of filtered light.

Notice how it's getting dark enough that the Holiday Inn sign is glowing. This is around 11:45 am.

The birds started flocking around, swirling in strange patterns in the sky and squawking.

This. This is totality. At approximately 11:54 pm, the moon fully eclipsed the sun, allowing us two minutes to gaze with our naked eye. Again, no real picture. I don't have that camera with those skills.

{Thora, Katie, Emily, Tommy, Samson, Dancy, Bonnie, Chris}

It was amazing. The birds went completely still. There was a 360 degree sunset at NOON. A noticeable drop in temperature. That diamond ring of sun glow around the blackened moon. A deep, internal sense of wonder and oneness with nature and the universe.

And then the moon slid just past the sun and the spell was broken. Light returned. Birds continued their strange flights. Warmth flooded back in.

This picture is at something like 99% totality after the moon had passed just that one hair. The lighting was still weird and the best way I could describe it is that it was like being at a sports stadium with all the bright flood lights. There was light, but it felt artificial.

Still darker at noonday than any other time.

The Great American Total Solar Eclipse, August 21, 2017