Big “small” school, right in the middle of the city. Cool dorms (pet friendly, AC, high ceilings), energetic tour guide, beautiful day (no thanks to JWU). We had a nice tour, but it’s definitely a city college. The green/quad is very small and surrounded by three buildings and a road. All of the other buildings are within a several block radius and many are old buildings with local “charm.” The building Eve’s classes would be in was the newest building, but it looked like a pretty small department. She liked the tour, but isn’t sold on the location. (I agree, but it’s not up to me. 😉)
Gerald came along for the ride. He’s not a very good driver.
The quad and our tour guide.
Some other buildings.
Gerald was very popular.
This looks like a very cool project to me. Each poster is about a different font.
After months of thinking about it and weeks of planning and days of worrying, the big day finally came! Eclipse 2024! The skies were clear, the weather was perfect, my chosen location was fantastic, and we had a great day!
The state has been putting out traffic warnings for weeks now, warning us of a massive influx of vehicles and people for this one day. They brought in tons of extra police and port-a-potties, they made arrangements with fuel companies and cell phone providers to make sure we had enough gas and cell coverage. All of that was probably for the best, but it also stressed me out. For awhile my plan was just to “drive North and figure it out,” but eventually that was adding to the stress, so I made a real plan. Yay! I found that the Shelburne Museum was opening for one day (they normally open mid-May) and for the price of admission you got a parking spot, dozens of acres of land to choose from, bathrooms, and a snack bar. I was sold! I bought tickets, invited a few friends, and made peace with my decisions.
As it turns out, my decisions were fantastic! We got up there with minimal traffic. We caravanned with a friend and her kids. We found a nice spot on the lawn with a southwest view. The museum did a wonderful job providing just enough amenities (bathrooms, food, small gift shop) and lots of family friendly activities like lawn games and live jazz music.
The real action started at 2:14 when the moon just peaked over the sun.
From there, we were hooked! We watched as the moon crept over the sun. The temperature slowly dropped. The light changed. The excitement grew.
For the final minutes we all had our glasses on, faces to the sun, watching in real-time as the moon completely covered. the sun. It was wild! The yellow/orange sun disappeared and I was expecting to see the corona, but all I saw was darkness. Rose said, “take your glasses off!” and I did and WOW!!! It was like glowing, sparkling, shining in the sky. So amazing that it’s bright, bright, bright, then OFF! Just gone in a second. Even the tiniest bit of sun showing is too bright to look at, but when the moon covers the sun completely, it’s like a flip is switched and you can stare right at it. I was wondering (and my friend Timothy was worrying) about how we’d know when to put the glasses back on. Turns out you don’t need to time it. As soon as even a smidgen of the sun reappears, BAM, it’s way to bright to look at!
Some quotes I’ve heard/read lately:
“A partial eclipse is like a cool sunset. A total eclipse is like someone broke the sky.” (Randal Monroe / xkcd alt text)
“100% is 1000 times better than 99%” (someone on Facebook)
“It’s like someone turned the sun off, then back on again.” (the ether)
I would love to be more articulate right now, but alas, I am not, so instead I’m going to share something a more literary friend wrote about viewing the eclipse. He wasn’t at the same place we were, but he was looking at the same sun and moon!
“Everything I anticipated became so thrillingly true it reclaimed its ability to surprise, on top of all the surprises. The alien light, the drastic cold, the immediate night, the ability to take off your glasses and stare straight at this object that seconds ago was burning your skin, the sharp clarity of the corona, the command of science to put us in the right spot, the awe of the heavens revealed, the stranger nearby who came alone and laughed in spontaneous delight, the inability to look when a mere pinpoint of the sun returned, and how much that pinpoint alone could light up the entire world.” — Bob Kalm, posted on Facebook
When the sun came back on again, we packed up and headed home, along with thousands of other people. We took back roads, changed the route a few times based on map routing data, and made it home in a speedy three hours! Only twice the time it takes in a normal day. However, my friend decided to stick around a little longer and wait out the traffic, which unfortunately turned out to be a big mistake! The traffic only increased as the evening went on! It took her four hours, but because she waited so long she ended up getting home really late!
I feel so fortunate that all of the decisions Rosy and I made around this event worked out so very well. Our location was fantastic. Traffic up and down was manageable. The weather was beautiful. I could not have asked for a more perfect eclipse viewing experience!
Scrolling through Facebook today it’s wild seeing the long lines of cars on the highways, huge crowds in cities and fields, and crazy lines at the Tesla chargers. It made me feel even better about how smoothly our day went!
If you’d like to see more pictures, here is our Google Album: Eclipse 2024
