Eclipse Day

Today April 8, 2024, there was a total eclipse of the sun.  Here are some happy things:

  • Somehow, the drive to the other side of Vermont didn't seem as long as I expected.  Maybe that was because Zed was driving.  I was able to go between looking at the beautiful scenery and playing games on my phone. 




  • We arrived at our planned location, St. Albans, VT, a little after 8:00 AM.  The eclipse didn't start until after 2:00 PM.  We had time to kill.  I had some anxiety about traffic on the way there, we missed any morning traffic.


  • We found a place at the park to set up and I went back to the car to try to take a nap. When I got back to our spot, someone with musical instruments had set up not far from us.  Not only did we have some lovely music to listen to, they had many instruments and Gideon was able to go over there and play instruments with them.  We made sure to thank them for their time and attention to Gideon during the day.  We also took some small walks while waiting for the eclipse.
Saint Albans Bay, part of Lake Champlain.


Turtle bench.

Fish bench.

Gideon playing a musical instrument.





  • There was no internet available.  I ended up writing down my thoughts off and on during the day.  I'm using those notes to remind me of what I wanted to write about.  I've considered writing my blog on paper, taking a picture of that, and posting that when I am camping to save battery.  I need to write neater!  🤣
  • There were people at the park with very expensive equipment to watch and photograph the eclipse.  I tried covering my camera lense with a pair of eclipse glasses with mixed results.  Pictures from my phone are what are on the blog tonight.  Tomorrow I'll pull the pictures I took using the Canon camera.  

I thought I only had a red pen.




During totality. 

Not a good representation of the sun/moon.
But I think the star might be Venus?



Totality 


Totality with the Sharpie I found.
The red is on purpose.





  • This is the first time I have seen a total eclipse.  I have a vague memory of an eclipse when I was a kid.  According to the internet, it wasn't total when I was a kid.  Anyway, we watched the transitions off and on from start to finish.  It was amazing.  We were in a place where the time of totality was a little over three minutes.  It was beautiful. Hearing the reactions of people nearby added to the experience.   It got cold when the sun went away.  The birds settled and then were very busy when the sun came back.
  • The drive home didn't go as smooth as the drive there.  There were still amazing views until the sun set.  We didn't get home until after midnight.  Safe and sound!





☮

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.


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