I was a little excited to see the eclipse today! I was too scared to watch the 2017 one (the news made it look like we’d go instantly blind if we opened our eyes outdoors), so I decided against it. But then several people talked about how amazing it was and I wished I had seen it. So I decided I was probably going to see him today. Especially because we live very close to the path of totality.
Last night around midnight it occurred to me that I had never gotten glasses so I could look at it. Jerry had taken the day off work (not for the eclipse, but it turned out that way), so he went out this morning on a mission to get glasses. Everywhere he went they said they sold out weeks ago. He finally found some at a 7-11 about 35 minutes away, and they only had a few pairs that they reserved in the back.
I debated driving to Luna Pier (or even biking), which is a small town nearby and the only place in Michigan that is completely on the trail. However, Noah came over and said the traffic was crazy everywhere. The line to get onto the highway was backed up for miles! So I thought I’d be happy with 99.98% of the whole thing and avoid the traffic 😉
It was supposed to happen around 3:12 pm, so we went outside about 20 minutes early. Jerry got his welding helmet out from work and it actually worked much better than the cardboard glasses. We passed it back and forth, hoping something exciting would happen, but I have to say the eclipse was very disappointing.
I found it more interesting to just look around because the atmosphere seemed really eerie. It reminded me of the moments before a tornado, where it seems like you’re looking through a filter or something. And then it was surprising that the temperature dropped A LOT and it got really dark outside in a matter of minutes. I hadn’t thought about the temperature dropping like that, but it makes sense when the sun is hidden!
While everything didn’t exactly live up to expectations, we had a lot of laughs – Jerry was trying to take selfies of us but we couldn’t see anything with the helmet/goggles on, so the photos were all over the place. .
Eli’s baseball games have started and he plays 38 games (!) this season (two months). That’s a LOT of baseball. I have to get ready to go to a game right now, but I’ve been working on some fun projects lately, so I’ll post pictures of them tomorrow. (Hold me to that!)