Well hello again my friends!
Our webmaster arrived and saved the day once more and we are back in blogging business.
I hardly knew where to begin to catch up, but decided that the most current event would be best....
Our view of the eclipse.
I don't have the proper equipment to take photos of the sun itself, but I certainly got a few of its effects.
We only experienced a 90% eclipse here, but it was certainly dramatic.
Here are pictures of Mr. P's house just moments after maximum:
All those little crescents actually show how much of the sun was blocked out by the moon. Yet even with that small amount still showing, it was still quite bright out. The sun is very powerful!
Surreal.
It was odd to have 'twilight' at 10:15 in the morning. And it was a twilight without long shadows as we have when the sun is coming up or going down. Quite disorienting. The birds quieted down a bit, I could actually discern that it was cooler and everything had taken on a subdued quality.
When I noticed this... I decided to go out into the garden and take a few pictures to see if this effect would show up on film.
I did not alter these photos at all in my software. They look as if I had a really nice solar filter and used it heavily. But I don't and I didn't. :-)
An imperfect morning glory... but I had to include it. It's a variety I planted that has struggled all summer to grow and this is only its second bloom.
What can you say?
"Come closer." That's what...
The camera did seem to capture some of the qualities I'm talking about.
Last night I spoke to S. who travelled a few hundred miles north and got to see totality. It's something she will never forget. You just don't. We were talking about it and really, solar eclipses are not rare. They happen all the time. But what IS rare is for individuals to be able to see one. Because their path is so specific and narrow relatively speaking, for one human being to witness, it IS rare to be in the right place at the right time...
And because it seems appropriate to share it here, I'm including a poem I wrote in 1979 when we DID travel a few hundred miles to get into the path of totality in a little orange Volkswagen Beetle with two young boys in the back seat. Back then, there was no internet and there were no crowds. We just pulled off to the side of the road that was on top of a huge plateau that stretched for miles on either side of us. We climbed up on a sage brush covered slope and proceeded to have our minds blown. We were also witness to a phenomenon that doesn't always happen. We saw something called 'shadow bars' just as the eclipse became total. It was magical. [For some odd reason, the editor won't let me separate the four line stanzas. I apologize. Please try to put them in as you read. :-)]
All those little crescents actually show how much of the sun was blocked out by the moon. Yet even with that small amount still showing, it was still quite bright out. The sun is very powerful!
Surreal.
It was odd to have 'twilight' at 10:15 in the morning. And it was a twilight without long shadows as we have when the sun is coming up or going down. Quite disorienting. The birds quieted down a bit, I could actually discern that it was cooler and everything had taken on a subdued quality.
When I noticed this... I decided to go out into the garden and take a few pictures to see if this effect would show up on film.
I did not alter these photos at all in my software. They look as if I had a really nice solar filter and used it heavily. But I don't and I didn't. :-)
An imperfect morning glory... but I had to include it. It's a variety I planted that has struggled all summer to grow and this is only its second bloom.
What can you say?
"Come closer." That's what...
The camera did seem to capture some of the qualities I'm talking about.
Last night I spoke to S. who travelled a few hundred miles north and got to see totality. It's something she will never forget. You just don't. We were talking about it and really, solar eclipses are not rare. They happen all the time. But what IS rare is for individuals to be able to see one. Because their path is so specific and narrow relatively speaking, for one human being to witness, it IS rare to be in the right place at the right time...
And because it seems appropriate to share it here, I'm including a poem I wrote in 1979 when we DID travel a few hundred miles to get into the path of totality in a little orange Volkswagen Beetle with two young boys in the back seat. Back then, there was no internet and there were no crowds. We just pulled off to the side of the road that was on top of a huge plateau that stretched for miles on either side of us. We climbed up on a sage brush covered slope and proceeded to have our minds blown. We were also witness to a phenomenon that doesn't always happen. We saw something called 'shadow bars' just as the eclipse became total. It was magical. [For some odd reason, the editor won't let me separate the four line stanzas. I apologize. Please try to put them in as you read. :-)]
Total Eclipse
Light - He shines upon us,
with a brightness that can blind
if we gaze upon him with abandon.
We must be cautious.
From time to time though,
he hides behind the moon.
A game of peek a boo
with his bemused offspring.
I saw the revels once myself.
I saw the shadow of the moon
racing across the mountains toward me,
her skirts sweeping the earth.
And when she reached my awestruck place,
I beheld the mystery.
The shimmering shadows of angels.
Dancing with God.
The stars shone.
Rejoicing for a moment.... visible by day!
Though their triumph was fleeting,
for the moon had a dance of her own to keep.