My Solar Eclipse: A Story of Excitement, Anxiety, Frustration, and Ultimately...Success!

Partly Cloudy?

"Mostly... Over Wellman, Iowa.

It just happened about 20 minutes ago.   My first 93.2% "almost" total eclipse!  And it happened on a cloudy day with rain and wind and floods and volcanoes and locusts!

Volcanoes in Iowa?

Ok,  I made up that last part.   There are no locust here in Iowa.

Where is the sun?

The forecast called for "partly" cloudy.   And by partly,  that pretty much meant, "Only over the Allen's Apartment!"   There were Patches of blue sky all around.    But directly above us....only clouds.

There it is!   Kinda.

As it began, ( around 11:20)  I noted that I could barely see the sun filtering through the clouds.   With my hopes raised ever so slightly,  I grabbed my home made pin-hole camera and went out to see if I could make anything out.   No luck.   The clouds diffused the rays too much to even cast a shadow.

The computer photographs better.

  In a fit of frustration,  I randomly snapped picture of the clouds and the computer.

Apparently,   "Other" people could see the entire thing just fine.    I tried to focus on other things,  but it was pointless.   Cheryl was about to kill me,  the cat would not stop harassing me, and all I could do was watch this moment slip by.....

So that is what "Total" looks like.

Through the Sunglasses.

But then... a break in the clouds?   Oh no..  ( that would be a "happy ending")  But the clouds thinned ever so slightly to allow us a glimpse at the sun.   It was actually pretty cool because the clouds helped filter the rays so I could look directly at the sun and not burn my eyes out.   I still wore my sunglasses, and I used them to cover the camera several times to help the camera filter out the glimmer.

Moon taking a bite out of the Sun.

As the clouds rolled back in one last time,  (5 minutes before the peak event!)   I almost gave it up as the "best I could have hoped for".....  And then..

Small Break in the clouds.

A small bright patch of the clouds broke for about 45 seconds.   And I was able to capture the small crescent of the sun at the supposed moment of totality (Er.  93.2%, that is).   And I could see it all without glasses.

With Filter.  93.2 % coverage!  Yeah!

We could hear the cheers from the local Grade School a couple blocks away.   At least a few other people were outside trying to see what they could as well.    I must say, I'm actually impressed with my small Motorola phone camera.   I had to do just a little adjusting to clean things up... but for the most part, it preformed better than expected.

Good enough for me.... for now. 

And the biggest take away was that I actually have something to blog about today.   That it correct!   I failed to find any new meaning in my life after the event.   No moment of inspiration or epiphany.   The Meaning of life still eludes me and the many questions of my existence remain unanswered.  However,  I managed to preserver and  see the eclipse (93.2% of it!) after many (insignificant) trials and tribulations!   Yeah for Me!

Or in my case:  93.2%!

So now I can go about my daily life once again.   I'll probably tackle a new origami model this afternoon; after being filled with the confidence that only a Solar Eclipse can give.  ( well,   93.2%  anyway.)

I look forward to reading the other peoples' blogs later today.   Hopefully they were able to capture better pics.    The "Brit in Tennessee"  said she will have over 2 minutes of total eclipse.   I'm very excited to see what she has.

Chasing Eclipse is like having Kids....Kinda.

I hope everyone else was able to see the eclipse.... or at least 93.2 % of it.  And perhaps it changed your life for the better.   It was fun...and also frustrating, and irritating.   Without any kids around,   those emotions are rare for me.    (Thank Heaven!)