It has been 38 years since the US last saw a total solar eclipse and almost 100 years since an eclipse has crossed the entire continent. My town of Columbia, MO was one of the lucky handful of cities that lie in the “umbra” or path of the eclipse, which is also being called the Great American Eclipse. I don’t really remember the last solar eclipse, but Monday I got to experience this solar eclipse. AMAZING, was the exact first word that came out of my mouth during today’s.
Our office closed for 3 hours in order for us to observe and participate in eclipse activities. We walked around FoodStock for a little while, but it was a rather hot and humid day and it wasn’t long before we headed back to a shady spot close to the office.
I set up my pinhole projector, which actually ended up having 2 pinholes (OOPS! 2 eclipses projected!) I know it doesn’t look so pretty, but it did it’s job! It was like watching the eclipse on TV but with a much smaller image.
As we got closer to totality, the atmosphere began to change. The air got cooler, and it gradually began to get darker, dusk-like outside.
There was one point when the crickets, locusts, and cicadas began chirping quite loudly as if night were coming, then all at the same moment, they fell silent. We should have been able to see a 360 degree sunset, but it was really more of 180 degrees for us due to the slight cloud cover. The sunset to the west was very pretty. It was kind of weird when all the dusk-to-dawn street lights began lighting up–this was early afternoon.
At totality, it was safe to remove our eclipse glasses and look around. It was almost as dark as night and rather eerie since it was the middle of the day. I didn’t really get a good pic of totality because I was completely overwhelmed and awed at observing the moment. Talk about an awesome phenomenon to get to experience in my lifetime! This was a most humbling event to experience.
If you ever get the chance to check out a solar eclipse, do it. Now I’m eager to find another Eclipse coming to a place near me (my husband will love to hear that). I would really like to catch another eclipse again!
Are You Going to the Eclipse Frenzy–2017?
Even though I won’t have to travel anywhere to see the Eclipse, I won’t get to act like a tourist in my town here in Missouri either. Since we are right in the middle of the path of totality, there are pre-eclipse parties the day before–selling out like crazy. There’s the Foodstock Solar Eclipse Festival at Corporate Lake which will celebrate the Eclipse with live music, food trucks, beer tents, crafts, games, kids activities, and fireworks. There are even Solar Eclipse Chaser Groups formed, prepared, and ready to go.
I get it, this is going to be it for the next 40 years. The last Eclipse was in 1979. This Eclipse is kind of a big deal and should be something really cool to experience. If I had my way I’d be doing it all–the pre-party, the festival, maybe chasing it down, maybe not. There’s a good chance I won’t be around for the next one, so I wouldn’t want to miss out on a thing. It sounds like an astronomical event that I would love to celebrate.
But, alas, the closest I’ll come is from the office of my day job. Our office is located right next to where the Foodstock Festival will be. I believe, if I actually make it through the traffic and to the office, I will be able to see Foodstock from our building no matter which set of windows I look out of. We are going to be allowed to take a long lunch in order to head over to Foodstock to experience the few minutes of Totality and grab some lunch, and I have already assembled my pinhole projector. But, to truly celebrate–check out the bands playing or take a hot air balloon ride? Naw, I’ll be watching from my window. Drop me a line and let me know if you are working or off for the Eclipse.
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