Total Eclipse of My Heart

I am sorry for misquoting Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 song title (it was “The” not “My”) but I took it very personally when the weather here the two days before and the day after were PERFECT yet it was very cloudy for the big event.

I have been aware of the eclipse for over a year and several months ago I ordered a bunch of eclipse glasses and a piece of film that could be placed on camera or binocular lenses.

Since January, New York State and Niagara Falls have been pushing hard for eclipse tourists. They overestimated the “massive” crowds that would come here. The long-term forecasts based on previous spring weather made it clear that Texas had the best chance for sunny weather and there were so many major cities between Dallas and Burlington that were right on the line of totality.

I had never experienced a total eclipse. There was a 70% one here 6 years ago but it was not very impressive even though it was a clear day. Since this year’s was going to pass directly over my home though I was very excited. I had even decided that if the forecast was going to be for clouds here I would drive SW or NE in Scrat to get to a sunny spot.

The universe seemed to be conspiring though to prevent any planning. Alex had decided to come home with some college friends to see the eclipse a few weeks ago. I had mistakenly assumed that meant they had plans to go and view it somewhere with their friends (there were countless eclipse events scheduled up here from concerts in parks to curated experiences with astronomers in sports stadiums to programs at state and local parks). But Alex asked me a week before what “we were doing” for the eclipse and explained they wanted to spend it with me. I wanted a quiet experience in nature where I could hear the birds get quiet and Alex agreed.

I tried to hold off on looking at local forecasts until a week before, they started poor and just got worse.

And the forecasts for everywhere SW of here were not good. It was forecast to be cloudy in Ohio, Indiana, etc. and there was a threat of severe weather in the areas further away. On the Wednesday before the eclipse though, the forecast showed it would be sunny in Watertown, NY, and Burlington, VT (just 4 or 8 hours away). Alex called me Friday morning to ask whether it was worth traveling so far and I was actually discouraging but by the end of the call they had decided to come home from Saturday until Tuesday morning. During the phone call, Alex was at school and told me they felt the building moving, I told them it was “probably just construction”….. an hour later I saw a bunch of news alerts on my phone!

and just a day earlier….

At work after hearing about the earthquake I had joked that it must be “the end times”. I was not alone as the late-night comedians all did their versions of the coming apocalypse.

I think that the newspaper concluded (as did I) that the world was not ending imminently (but like the frog in the pot on the stove we are slowly proceeding towards a worldwide climate calamity). But the weather forecast was personally devastating to me. By Saturday the only places on the totality line forecast to have a 100% chance of sunny weather were in northern New Hampshire and Maine. That would mean a 9-hour drive each way. While I could have done that, it would not get Alex back in time to leave for NYC early Tuesday morning, and also it seemed like a slight increase in the cloud’s eastward speed could end up with me in clouds when I finally got there.

So by Saturday night, I had decided to stay at home and watch the event with Alex in our backyard. I told Alex that even if it was awful and we saw nothing at least they had the T-shirt I had bought them at Wegmans last week. As soon as the Easter stuff was gone it all became eclipse-themed shirts, cookies, and beer at the stores.

Monday morning we had a prediction of 100% cloud cover.

Despite the clouds it was in the low 40s so I decided to go for an actual outdoor bike ride. Since Alex (professional photographer) was home I had them get a picture of me on my new Argon 18 Triathlon bike.

I think that is the fastest 90-minute ride I have ever done. Some of the increased speed was due to the very aerodynamic bike and some to my hard indoor bike training all winter.

For the past 2 weeks, there have been non-stop warnings about traffic jams but I saw fewer cars on the roads than almost any day since the peak of Covid.

Alex and I headed outside about 30 minutes before totality and it was very cloudy, there was a brief gap in the clouds allowing for one photo but then they thickened. I started a fire and we sacrificed some peeps hoping it would placate the sun god.

The sugary coating on peeps produces a delicious creme brulee flavor. And they make for great Smores.

I was very sad and disappointed as I thought it was just going to go from being cloudy to slightly darker clouds.

We had been seeing a lot of vultures flying low near our house over the weekend and Alex counted 11 in the sky.

I told Alex that maybe they knew the eclipse was coming and were hoping for some roadkill.

I was totally amazed when it very quickly turned completely dark! The solar lights came on, and the noisy birds in the woods became completely silent.

Fifa barked from inside the house when it got very dark, I’m not sure if she was upset, thought it was dinner time, or was just barking at people on the street.

The Canada geese in our neighborhood honked loudly and many flew back to the pond where they usually spend the night. We also saw (just before total darkness) a vulture flying by very fast (flapping a lot rather than just the usual gliding) as if it wanted to get back to it’s nighttime roost.

A little after totality I started a time-lapse on my iPhone.

It was amazing how a mere few minutes after totality it was full daylight again. The bird sounds were back to normal within minutes.

Of course, by 5 pm I had to close the blinds in the great room because it was SOOOOO sunny!

The clouds were very patchy and people within just 10 or 20 minutes had brief periods of views of the sun at better times than us. Here are some photos from local friends on social media.

Several people were well prepared and launched fireworks during totality, very cool.

So, my disappointment was gone and I was happy to have experienced the eclipse with Alex. Only two years until the next chance! I have wanted to return to Spain as I never got to see the southern cities and I want to visit Portugal, hopefully Alex will agree to join me.

and now for your moment of Zen …. JK, LOL

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4/12/24 addendum:

I hereby apologize in full for any complaints about the weather on Eclipse day!

For 2 days now we have had heavy rain…. And I appreciate how GOOD the weather was!