This past Monday the country experienced a total solar eclipse from ocean to ocean, the first time this has happened in 99 yrs. We were lucky that we lived within 90 miles of the center of the path which meant we would experience the total eclipse.
For days before seemed like everyone was excited about it, buying glasses, planning parties, etc. With so many recalls due to glasses that did not meet ISO safety regulations, my husband and I decided it wasn't worth the risk. We were also getting forecasts that seemed to think we were going to have rain or at least clouds. I also saw many cute, ingenious ways people were going to use to watch the eclipse. I heard many parents who were excited about their children being able to see it while at school and just as many who had notified the school that they did not want their children to be allowed outside to view it.
The day started off with the bright sun coming through our bedroom window waking me up. I told my husband that apparently the weathermen had gotten their reports wrong. Then maybe an hour later, I looked out and realized it was raining. Crazy. The totality was to happen here at 1:08ish with the start being at least an hour earlier. Before I even realized the time, it stopped raining and the sun came out again. Crazy.
About the time it stopped raining, I decided to make a "viewer" using a cereal box and a cracker box (since we had not bought glasses). The television was on all morning and we viewed the excitement from the observers in Oregon and other parts of the country as it started. I went outside to see how (and if) my viewer was going to work. Imagine my joy when it did. I decided to take a picture of what I was seeing in my viewer and shared it on Facebook. The clouds hadn't completely gone away but I managed to watch it for a while in my viewer.
We couldn't help but notice how it was getting darker and darker. The cicadas started "singing" and the solar lights came on and then it was dark. (We were so amazed at how dark it had gotten that we completely forgot that it was okay for us to look at the eclipse without glasses at the time of totality.) Totality was about 1 min 20 seconds here and then it started getting light again. We could hear some fireworks in the area. (I told you people were excited here.)
It took at least an hour for it to be back to normal when "normal" was interrupted with rain again. By middle afternoon we were having lots or rain, lightning, and thunder. At about 4:30 lightning hit a transformer lighting up the sky behind our house which caused our lights to be off for a few seconds. I called the power company to let them know that it had hit the transformer behind our house. The rain stopped for a while, but another storm came through that night before we went to bed. The area was hit by quite a bit of flooding and many people were out of power. We went to bed that night and I told my husband it had been quite a day!
Here are my pictures I took that day...
Then the rain after the eclipse.
This is one of my favorite pictures from NASA
A friend shared this picture on Facebook, but I didn't see who took it. I love how you can see the craters on the moon.
This is a picture our neighbor two doors down took with his cell phone. Awesome picture David Bulla.
Already looking forward to 2024 when the next solar eclipse will be crossing Arkansas. Definitely planning on seeing it with relatives and this time I will get some approved glasses to view it.
For days before seemed like everyone was excited about it, buying glasses, planning parties, etc. With so many recalls due to glasses that did not meet ISO safety regulations, my husband and I decided it wasn't worth the risk. We were also getting forecasts that seemed to think we were going to have rain or at least clouds. I also saw many cute, ingenious ways people were going to use to watch the eclipse. I heard many parents who were excited about their children being able to see it while at school and just as many who had notified the school that they did not want their children to be allowed outside to view it.
The day started off with the bright sun coming through our bedroom window waking me up. I told my husband that apparently the weathermen had gotten their reports wrong. Then maybe an hour later, I looked out and realized it was raining. Crazy. The totality was to happen here at 1:08ish with the start being at least an hour earlier. Before I even realized the time, it stopped raining and the sun came out again. Crazy.
About the time it stopped raining, I decided to make a "viewer" using a cereal box and a cracker box (since we had not bought glasses). The television was on all morning and we viewed the excitement from the observers in Oregon and other parts of the country as it started. I went outside to see how (and if) my viewer was going to work. Imagine my joy when it did. I decided to take a picture of what I was seeing in my viewer and shared it on Facebook. The clouds hadn't completely gone away but I managed to watch it for a while in my viewer.
We couldn't help but notice how it was getting darker and darker. The cicadas started "singing" and the solar lights came on and then it was dark. (We were so amazed at how dark it had gotten that we completely forgot that it was okay for us to look at the eclipse without glasses at the time of totality.) Totality was about 1 min 20 seconds here and then it started getting light again. We could hear some fireworks in the area. (I told you people were excited here.)
It took at least an hour for it to be back to normal when "normal" was interrupted with rain again. By middle afternoon we were having lots or rain, lightning, and thunder. At about 4:30 lightning hit a transformer lighting up the sky behind our house which caused our lights to be off for a few seconds. I called the power company to let them know that it had hit the transformer behind our house. The rain stopped for a while, but another storm came through that night before we went to bed. The area was hit by quite a bit of flooding and many people were out of power. We went to bed that night and I told my husband it had been quite a day!
Here are my pictures I took that day...
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| My homemade eclipse viewers |
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| One of my views... |
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| A later view |
Then the rain after the eclipse.
This is one of my favorite pictures from NASA
A friend shared this picture on Facebook, but I didn't see who took it. I love how you can see the craters on the moon.
This is a picture our neighbor two doors down took with his cell phone. Awesome picture David Bulla.
Already looking forward to 2024 when the next solar eclipse will be crossing Arkansas. Definitely planning on seeing it with relatives and this time I will get some approved glasses to view it.
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