Monday, August 21, 2017

Eclipse Report

I worked a wonky shift today at the college. The early part of my shift began at 7 a.m., but I left at 11 to check my great nephew, Jordan out of school. It was a ghost town at the elementary school.

When I buckled him into the seat of my truck, he was CRANKED. He'd done his research and watched several YouTube videos on what to expect. Even though he's only starting the 4th grade this year, he's reading above the 9th-grade level. When his reading scores returned he ranked in the 99 percentile in the U.S. He was eclipse savvy.

The glasses I ordered from Amazon the first of August were unusable. After they shipped, Amazon sent me an email and said they could be defective and not to use them. They refunded my money. But by the time the glasses shipped, all the local places were out of glasses. A friend I went to high school with read me post on Facebook and offered to send me two pairs of her glasses. They arrived in time. I was thrilled and thankful.

Jilda doesn't go into work until after 2 p.m. on Mondays, so she whipped up lunch. Baked organic chicken, baked potatoes, and fresh tomatoes. Yum.

The moon started munching on the sun before we ate. Jordan and I sat on the back deck and provided play by play updates on the event. 

Not only did we have glasses, but I helped him build a crude pin-hole viewing device. We'd also heard on the Weather Channel that you could use a colander to view the event.

So as the moon had its way with Ol' Sol, we tried each of the viewing devices. Jilda and her brother Ricky (Jordan's pawpaw) stepped out and viewed the celestial performance. 

The daylight began to dim about midway through. Birds began scurrying from bush to bramble like the do at dusk. The rooster crowed, and the chickens began making their way toward the roost.

The eclipse was not total here, but it was around 94%. We couldn't see the stars like they could a few hours north of here, but the light was eerie. 

When the sun began reclaiming its light, Jordan and his pawpaw headed home. They called me a few minutes after they left. "You have to come down and see the pinhole effect of the light through the trees on the road that runs by our houses.

When I walked toward Jordan's house, I saw thousands of crescent quarter moon lights on the asphalt. I'd never seen anything like it. 

Jordan knew they would be there before he headed back home. Apparently, that was one of the YouTube videos he watched. 

 So that's my eclipse day. How about you?




14 comments:

  1. I was in surgery working when it came through here. 80% but those that saw it said it was still amazing. We have a window in that OR that's high up near the ceiling. We could see the sky and it got very cloudy and then darker..like a bad storm kind of dark. That was my whole experience today!

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  2. How amazing.
    Bright sunshine here today.

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  3. I'm amazed too. Thanks for sharing the eclipse with us.

    Alphie

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  4. you made this event more interesting to witness. love it!

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  5. We had bright sunny day all day yesterday, no eclipse for us here. I'm just amazed at the length people will go to see an eclipse that last for 2 minutes and spend all that money. It like when the queen of England comes for a visit. People line the road up our lane to just get a glimpse of her has her car goes by.

    I'm glad Jordan got to see his first eclipse.
    Hugs, Julia

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  6. I sat in my little office at work until one of the employees walked in and said they had a pair of solar glasses if I wanted a look at the eclipse. I ran outside took a glimpse as the moon moved in and another at peak. Then I headed back in to work. I thought it would get darker than it did but it was still cool.
    Lisa

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  7. Thanks for sharing that picture of the quarter moons. How awesome!

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  8. Enjoyed the report, we were too far outside the path to make a lot of difference in the daylight. THANKS. Glad Jordan was so interested and great about his reading ability. I worry about some to the youth today who do not read. Most are too much like I was no time to read!! Gotta play!

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  9. The effect on road is interesting. I'm glad you got pictures.

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  10. I'm glad Jordan is a reader. That makes me happy. Nothing really happened here with the eclipse. It was very cloudy. During the eclipse, it got a little darker and that was it. Nothing to get excited about.

    Love,
    Janie

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  11. When one loves to read ones life is enriched didn't see the eclipse being that I am down under

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  12. We got about ninety-five percent here in Portland. It got dim, but not dark.

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  13. That's amazing! Jordan's excitement had to make yours all the more enjoyable.

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  14. Congrats to Jordan, I love your picture of the mini moons. It just looked like it was ready to rain here but we didn't get as much as you did from the eclipse.

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