Blog

On the way to Ohio we noticed this sign that obviously caught our attention. The town is near Notre Dame University.

One place we stopped for gas was really old with pumps you had to reset by turning a crank. The owner even came out to wash the windows and offered to check the oil.

We stayed with cousin Paul and wife Jan in Burton Ohio. We visited the cemetery where Uncle Paul and Aunt Emma are.

They live in the Amish area and this is an example of Amish advertising.

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We left the van in Ohio and flew to Idaho to see the total eclipse. In this photo you can see the dark shadow approaching on the horizon. It sort of looks like the marine layer of haze at home.

With our eclipse glasses we watched the disk of the sun get covered more and more. That was interesting, but was nothing compared to the two-minute period of totality. Even a 99.9% coverage of the sun is pretty bright and it isn’t until it is total that you are really impressed.

The air cooled noticeably and some crickets started their evening songs. It was a somewhat emotional moment. Although the duration of totality was about two minutes, it seemed more like 20 seconds. The sun’s corona was visible around the moon, but it was dark enough to see the brighter planets.

Below is a 360 degree panorama of the horizon during the totality. All around was the glow of a sunset or sunrise. Also, the temperature dropped, the wind came up and the crickets started singing their evening songs.

When the sun first became visible again, it was just one bright point and looked like a diamond on the corona ring. In seconds, it was too bright to look at without the glasses.

Once the sun reappeared, we celebrated that the world had not ended!. Alan, Becca, Tracy, Mary Ann, and Morgan.

Then it was back to Ohio and off to Quebec and Louise Penny's prelaunch party for her new book, Glass Houses.