The Great Eclipse of 2017 passed over Fuquay Varina, NC, yesterday casting an eerie shadow over the spectators in our backyard. Lisa and I, the boys, Grandma, our neighbors Barb and Wayne, and even the guy installing our tile took time to witness this celestial event.
TJ - wearing safety approved glasses sent by Aunt Linda and brought over by Grandma - saw the beginning of the eclipse at about 1:15pm. It was a tiny sliver of the moon passing in front of the sun. The boys were only semi-interested for the entire duration. They just couldn't sit still for long enough to appreciate what they were watching. The rest of us parked ourselves in the back yard for 90 more minutes.
We had approved glasses and home made viewers (camera obscura) to view the sky. To be honest, the homemade viewers were going to be a kids project but their attention span was lacking so I did it for them.
Steadily the sun grew to 94% occlusion. As it did the heat of the day dissipated, crickets began to chirp louder, and the space around us got...darker. It was a weird dark, as if one had sunglasses on or if someone dialed back the sun.
It was neat event to witness as a family. The last full solar eclipse was 38 years ago and there wasn't much from it for Lisa and I to recall, although I do remember being at my grandmother's house on Cromwell Hill Rd. in Monroe to watch it. [I may have been just as interested in it back then as the kids were yesterday.] The next solar eclipse is in 7 trips around the sun; the boys will be teenagers, Betty will be 92, and we will be able to watch it and say "remember the one from 2017?"
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