What a great experience to share with your kids. I watched the NASA coverage all afternoon as they tracked totality from point to point. The eclipse itself was awe-inspiring, but I was equally struck by the crowds gathered in places like SIU's football stadium or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or that science center in Cleveland. Hearing large numbers of folks listening to scientists and *cheering* for nature made me feel a bit better about the world for a day. Hopefully, we can find more of those moments.
To be honest what I enjoyed about the whole eclipse experience was how much so many people were enjoying it, it was fundamentally genuine rather than cynical or considered or whatever, which is always a nice change of pace
Sitting in my backyard with one of my best friends, with all my neighbors out in their backyards, I'll always remember that, just as totality hit and the birds went silent, a whole group of us shouted "HOLY SHIT" in unison.
My brother, SIL, and niece came up from North Carolina to visit, and so we went out, slightly north and west of Columbus, to watch with my parents. It was incredible to see, and like you, I got to also enjoy a small child's(in this case, a three-year old "almost 4, Uncle [BSP]!") joy at such a cool thing.
Went with my parents to San Antonio so as to have a few hundred miles in whatever direction available as the poopy forecast improved. Ended up catching 30 seconds of totality near Waco. 100% worth it.
We drove out to a friend's farm in London, Ohio since they were in totality - nice to be able to make a quick day trip out of it! Unexpectedly they also had about a half-dozen Ohio State vet students doing the horses' annual exam, so we had some nice buzz all day. We just hung out on the back porch during the leadup, keeping an eye out with our glasses.
Totality was SPECTACULAR. I had seen partial before and been like "oh this is cool but I don't need to make a whole thing out of it" but totality was a completely different experience. The temperature drop was wild; the weird twilight was bizarre. The horses though it was either going to storm or it was dinner time, and the cats could care less.
Just so, so cool. So glad you and the family got a great experience!! I do wonder if any of the Final Four or Championship teams hung around an extra day or three to see it...
I flew out to my dad and stepmom‘s house south of Dallas last Friday and stayed through Monday afternoon so I could watch the eclipse. We pulled a table and some chairs out from under the awning of my dad’s shop, loaded up a tray with some snacks, and sat in the driveway waiting for totality. Finally, the moment came, the lights over the shop’s side door and along the driveway flickered on, the entire horizon turned a late-sunset orange all the way around, and I got this photo, which I think is pretty good for having been taken with a cell phone.
So, when we negotiated our previous contract two years ago, the district wanted this day to be a day off of school for our secondary students, as they would be leaving school during the peak period of the "99% totality" here in SE Michigan. So they made it a Professional Development Day, which, whatever, we have to have them. But we're also no longer allowed to take personal business days on Professional Development Days (because they realized that teachers were taking them because you didn't need to write sub plans, and maybe, just maybe, the PD kind of sucked.) So I was standing in the parking lot of the high school on the south side of town, glimpsing the maximum coverage before I got in my car to head to pick up my son from track practice. Not as magical as my friends who experienced totality, but still memorable.
In 2017 we had a mini family reunion at my 92 year old grandma's nursing home in Colombia, MO, and it was incredible. I got to experience the meh of 90% coverage in Philly this year. My Ph.D. advisor/closest collaborator is Icelandic, and my youngest kid will be 4 in August 2016, so I am already planning my trip to Iceland for that one.
Since I'm outside the path of totality, I didn't make much of a big deal about the eclipse. I opted not to buy glasses and did my recycling just before the eclipse hit its peak. However, one of the workers at the recycling center shared their glasses with me and it was truly spectacular. When I got home afterwards, the moon reached maximum coverage and a neighbor was nice enough to let me borrow their eclipse glasses. One of my bad phone photos of it had a stroke of luck too when the sun's mirrored reflection showed up in the photo, revealing a perfect crescent.
I had to wipe some tears on Monday (our clouds did not blow through) but Frankie was so awed by totality, even if we couldn't see it, that it was worth the 5 hour trip up to Rochester. (He also really, really liked the Museum of Play, so Rochester, you got that going for you.) Glad you got to experience this. I have also floated the idea of Reykjavik in 2026 but I desperately want to see the aurora borealis and I've read that it's better for winter to see that.
We were sitting on the steps of the Cleveland Art Museum, which was an awesome place to see it. The 360 degree sunset was really visible there. My parents came up for the weekend and watched it with us, so we had 3 generations together to watch it. It was a genuinely moving moment for me. And the eclipse itself was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. Even our cynical teenagers were chattering about it for the rest of the day.
Also- I wish I would have known you were in Cleveland! Next time you're up here I'll be happy to give you a tour of the brewery!
putting this in the comment thread just to memorialize it for myself--this is exactly where we were, and I think we're in the background of this crowd video for a split second: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/cheering-ohio-crowds-greet-the-solar-eclipse-208563269612
What a great experience to share with your kids. I watched the NASA coverage all afternoon as they tracked totality from point to point. The eclipse itself was awe-inspiring, but I was equally struck by the crowds gathered in places like SIU's football stadium or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or that science center in Cleveland. Hearing large numbers of folks listening to scientists and *cheering* for nature made me feel a bit better about the world for a day. Hopefully, we can find more of those moments.
I think there is enough time to create the first ACBN charter tour group to Northern Spain and secure a block of rooms for the eclipse, right?
To be honest what I enjoyed about the whole eclipse experience was how much so many people were enjoying it, it was fundamentally genuine rather than cynical or considered or whatever, which is always a nice change of pace
Sitting in my backyard with one of my best friends, with all my neighbors out in their backyards, I'll always remember that, just as totality hit and the birds went silent, a whole group of us shouted "HOLY SHIT" in unison.
My terrible eclipse pictures are second only to my terrible pictures of the Grand Canyon. Fundamentally impossible to capture
My brother, SIL, and niece came up from North Carolina to visit, and so we went out, slightly north and west of Columbus, to watch with my parents. It was incredible to see, and like you, I got to also enjoy a small child's(in this case, a three-year old "almost 4, Uncle [BSP]!") joy at such a cool thing.
Went with my parents to San Antonio so as to have a few hundred miles in whatever direction available as the poopy forecast improved. Ended up catching 30 seconds of totality near Waco. 100% worth it.
I’ve already mentioned Reykjavik 2026 to Mrs. Jonfucius (for the eclipse as well as the killer pastries at Baka Baka)
We drove out to a friend's farm in London, Ohio since they were in totality - nice to be able to make a quick day trip out of it! Unexpectedly they also had about a half-dozen Ohio State vet students doing the horses' annual exam, so we had some nice buzz all day. We just hung out on the back porch during the leadup, keeping an eye out with our glasses.
Totality was SPECTACULAR. I had seen partial before and been like "oh this is cool but I don't need to make a whole thing out of it" but totality was a completely different experience. The temperature drop was wild; the weird twilight was bizarre. The horses though it was either going to storm or it was dinner time, and the cats could care less.
Just so, so cool. So glad you and the family got a great experience!! I do wonder if any of the Final Four or Championship teams hung around an extra day or three to see it...
I flew out to my dad and stepmom‘s house south of Dallas last Friday and stayed through Monday afternoon so I could watch the eclipse. We pulled a table and some chairs out from under the awning of my dad’s shop, loaded up a tray with some snacks, and sat in the driveway waiting for totality. Finally, the moment came, the lights over the shop’s side door and along the driveway flickered on, the entire horizon turned a late-sunset orange all the way around, and I got this photo, which I think is pretty good for having been taken with a cell phone.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5hJWOzg9fq/?
So, when we negotiated our previous contract two years ago, the district wanted this day to be a day off of school for our secondary students, as they would be leaving school during the peak period of the "99% totality" here in SE Michigan. So they made it a Professional Development Day, which, whatever, we have to have them. But we're also no longer allowed to take personal business days on Professional Development Days (because they realized that teachers were taking them because you didn't need to write sub plans, and maybe, just maybe, the PD kind of sucked.) So I was standing in the parking lot of the high school on the south side of town, glimpsing the maximum coverage before I got in my car to head to pick up my son from track practice. Not as magical as my friends who experienced totality, but still memorable.
In 2017 we had a mini family reunion at my 92 year old grandma's nursing home in Colombia, MO, and it was incredible. I got to experience the meh of 90% coverage in Philly this year. My Ph.D. advisor/closest collaborator is Icelandic, and my youngest kid will be 4 in August 2016, so I am already planning my trip to Iceland for that one.
Since I'm outside the path of totality, I didn't make much of a big deal about the eclipse. I opted not to buy glasses and did my recycling just before the eclipse hit its peak. However, one of the workers at the recycling center shared their glasses with me and it was truly spectacular. When I got home afterwards, the moon reached maximum coverage and a neighbor was nice enough to let me borrow their eclipse glasses. One of my bad phone photos of it had a stroke of luck too when the sun's mirrored reflection showed up in the photo, revealing a perfect crescent.
I had to wipe some tears on Monday (our clouds did not blow through) but Frankie was so awed by totality, even if we couldn't see it, that it was worth the 5 hour trip up to Rochester. (He also really, really liked the Museum of Play, so Rochester, you got that going for you.) Glad you got to experience this. I have also floated the idea of Reykjavik in 2026 but I desperately want to see the aurora borealis and I've read that it's better for winter to see that.
We were sitting on the steps of the Cleveland Art Museum, which was an awesome place to see it. The 360 degree sunset was really visible there. My parents came up for the weekend and watched it with us, so we had 3 generations together to watch it. It was a genuinely moving moment for me. And the eclipse itself was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. Even our cynical teenagers were chattering about it for the rest of the day.
Also- I wish I would have known you were in Cleveland! Next time you're up here I'll be happy to give you a tour of the brewery!