Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Oregon Eclipse, 2017



The first thing I noticed were the birds...As the eclipse began the birds in the trees began softly calling to one another. There were Chickadees, goldfinches and a few I didn't recognize. Then suddenly there were flocks of them winging across the skies as the moon covered more of the sun. The air became noticeably cooler and the light was strangely dim.


 There was a squirrel who decided he was quite interested in all the humans watching the sky. He sat on the fence yelling at us, then decided better of it and disappeared. 

 
Shadow the Dog stood behind the humans who were staring at the sun and looked over at me as though to say--could you make them stop that?  Toez the Polydactyl Cat hid in the closet and Bootz the Humongous Cat found his way into the back of the shed. 


The colors of the flowers became luminous and vibrant in a way I've never seen before.


The shadows of the leaves were crescent shaped with the points downward. Just before the eclipse was complete, the ground wiggled, just like they said it would--VERY strange! Little waves of light covered the ground.


Then the moon covered the sun completely. The air was cool and soft...a strange twilight that seemed magical. There was a luminous ring around the sun--it was so beautiful...not something I could completely catch with my camera. We could actually see faint stars--or maybe they were planets.

The most lovely part was when the sun suddenly peeked over the edge of the moon, creating a stunning diamond ring. It was only for an instant--but WOW! SO lovely. Our friends who are here visiting had set up a camera and actually caught a GREAT pic of that exact moment. I'm SO glad.


As the moon uncovered the sun little by little, more waves of light scuddled across the cement. Then we noticed the crescent shadows made by the leaves were now pointed in the opposite direction--like little smiles covering the ground.

I was amazed at how quickly the light and heat of the sun returned--even though the sun was still at least a third covered! Of course, Mumsie and I stayed and watched as the sun was revealed completely. It was the experience of a lifetime.

2 comments:

SandeeNC said...

It's nice to see someone as excited about it as I was! I even taped the totality part as that was very cool! I don't know if you clicked on my link or not to watch it? Another was in 2024! Too far for me to travel to be in the path but at least I got during this one!

Linda Kunsman said...

Oh what a beautiful experience Beth! Thank you for sharing with those of us who may have only caught a glimpse of this awesome side of nature, God, and the universe.