I’m kind of excited to see the solar eclipse today! In 2017, I was too scared to read this—the news sounded like we would instantly go blind if we opened our eyes outside—so I chose not to. But then several people talked about how amazing it was and how I wished I could have seen it. So, I decided to go see it today. Especially since we live so close to the overall trail.
Last night around midnight it occurred to me that I had never worn glasses to look at it! Jerry took the day off (not for the eclipse, but that’s what happened), so he went out on a mission to buy glasses this morning. Everywhere he looked he said they sold out weeks ago. He finally found some at a 7-Eleven about 35 minutes away, but they only had a few pairs reserved in the back.
I considered driving (or even biking) to Luna Marina, a nearby town—and the only place in Michigan that is in the path of totality. However, Noah came over and said there was traffic jam everywhere. The queues for the highway were miles long! So I guess I’ll be happy with 99.98% overallness and avoid traffic 😉
It was supposed to be around 3:12pm, so we went out about 20 minutes early. Jerry takes out his welding helmet when he gets off work, which actually works much better than cardboard glasses. We passed back and forth, waiting for something exciting to happen, but I must say, the eclipse was pretty bland.
I found it more interesting to look around as the atmosphere looked really eerie. It reminds me of the moments before a tornado – it looks like you’re looking through a filter or something. Then shockingly the temperature dropped so much and within minutes it became very dark outside. I didn’t expect the temperature to drop to such an extent, but it makes sense when the sun is hidden!
While the whole thing didn’t quite live up to the hype, we still had a lot of laughs – Jerry tried to take a selfie of us, but we couldn’t see anything with our helmets/glasses on, so the photo was all over the place.
Eli’s baseball game has begun and he has played 38 games (!) this season (two months). That’s a lot of baseball. I have to get ready for a game right now, but I’ve been working on some fun projects lately, so I’ll post those photos tomorrow. (Keep me hanging on!)