I was going to make this a video, but I have a feeling that if I made this a video it would have been extremely underwhelming. Because my videos are just me talking to a camera. And if someone wanted to watch video about a solar eclipse they would not want to watch a video of a guy reading his notes about watching a solar eclipse. Okay, I'll just go ahead and post this here like someone is going to read it.
I was apprehensive about the day
because the weather called for clouds. And that morning I woke to
thunder. And a good amount of cussing. This was supposed to be a
special event, something that only happens once a century and I'm
going to miss it because of some flipping rain. But the rain and
clouds cleared out pretty quickly and I got a beautiful day to watch
the sun. Thankfully I had bought some of the solar glasses a couple
of days before. The store I work at we were selling some before the
eclipse, unfortunately we had ran out rather quickly and I was glad
the day of the eclipse had came. People were starting to drive me
crazy asking me over and over if we had the glasses. A lot of people
were trying to buy the solar glasses, they weren't interested in
watching the eclipse, they were just wanting the glasses because they
thought they needed the glasses so they would be safe outside during
it. I had a hard time convincing people that they only needed the
eclipse glasses if they plan on staring at the sun. Quite a few
people thought that the sun was going to go weird and if they were
even going to be outside they would need to have protection.
On the way out to where I was going to
watch the event I stopped by the store to pick up a notebook, I was
encouraged to document the event. Birds and bugs chirping, and to
note changes to environment and thoughts during the event. I drove
south from the town I live in, down highway K-14 about half way to
Pretty Prairie. There was a very light cloud cover but it was
clearing up as I arrived at where I was going to view it. And I
arrived just in time also. I parked at 11:33 and confirmed C1 at
11:39. C1 in an eclipse is “contact 1” when the moon can be
first seen crossing in front of the sun. I was planning on posting a
lot to Facebook during the eclipse, but my phone and network are
really crappy and I didn't have service in the area. I heard a few
bugs chirping, but mostly it was very quiet. I don't get that much
quiet in town. Not that the city I live in is that big, it is just
that if I'm at work there is never quiet and if I'm at home I'm
playing music or games. And since I was out in the middle of nowhere
and didn't have service for my phone I couldn't play music and I
didn't want to waste gas by running my car just for the radio and I
didn't want to risk leaving my radio on without running the car and
running down the battery.
The place where I parked was a little
dirt road a ways off from the highway. I parked there so people
wouldn't be constantly stopping and asking if I was alright.
Apparently I didn't go off in to a good spot because a couple of
people did come by and ask if I needed help. One kid rolled up in a
four wheeler and asked me if I was alright. I'm standing next to my
car with the solar glasses on with a notebook and staring at the sky.
I remember being angry at the kid for asking, but now that I think
about it I am thankful that I live in an area that people are willing
to help each other whenever we see someone needs help.
11:50 the moon is really starting to
block out the sun. it isn't notably darker outside but looking at
the sun with the glasses on makes the sun look like it has horns.
I've seen some videos online about solar eclipses and in those you
can see the shadow moving across the ground. I wasn't able to see
anything like that. But I wasn't high up on a cliff or anything so
it just got progressively darker out. I am curious if that was just
a dramatization or if you can actually see a shadow going along the
ground.
12:01 experimented with using the
holes in notebook to make an eclipse projector but couldn't seem to
get it to work. It is possible that the holes were just too big.
The bugs have seemed to have stopped chirping. But there wasn't very
many bugs to begin with. It has seemed to have gotten darker, but
that could just be me getting used to being outside. The sun looks
kind of look like a squished clay pot with a ball sitting on it. It
would have been nice to be in the path of totality, but it would have
been a minimum four hour drive away. So I would have been driving
for eight hours to see a three minuet show. I'm not sure that would
have been worth it. And I have heard horror stories of traffic,
hotels, and other things. A friend of mine who is a trucker who had
to drive through that said it took him three hours to drive six
miles.
12:10 most decidedly dimmer now.
About as bright as an overcast day.
12:23 really starting to cool off, and
the wind is starting to pick up. But it is hard to say if the wind
blowing is because of the eclipse or just because it is Kansas
weather. The wind blowing in Kansas isn't that special.
12:30 the sun is about half covered.
12:40 definitely getting darker and
cooler now. About as dark as a heavy cloudy day. The sun kind of
looks like a banana. Kind of justifying those damn Chiquita banana
commercials that kept playing on YouTube leading up to the event.
12:53 bugs are starting to pick up
again. The sun looks like a little yellow sliver of light to the
left of the moon. I chance a peak out from underneath the eclipse
glasses. The area I'm in got a 96% eclipse and I have to say. Four
percent of the sun is still really freaking bright. The amount of
ambient light makes me wonder about the amount of light the other
planets get on their surfaces
1:05 what was a sliver on the bottom
left is now a sliver on the bottom right, it seems to be past the
half.
1:14 the sun looks like a banana
again. It is starting to get brighter again. But still quite cool
outside.
1:21 The moon is moving too slowly to
actually see it move by looking, but it is easy to imagine it moving.
It is getting even brighter. It is back to overcast levels of
brightness outside.
1:24 Finally heard a bird chirping, it
might be the only bird in south central Kansas from what I heard
about how wildlife is supposed to be acting.
1:27 I have to say my personal
favorite time of the eclipse is the half way points when the moon is
covering half of the sun. It is really quite beautiful. I have yet
to see a total solar eclipse so I can't compare to the big show
itself
1:35 the sun looks like a clay pot
again.
1:40 the sun looks like it has horns.
It really is starting to get brighter outside. Some clouds are
starting to move in from the southwest, that is some really great
timing.
1:47 Sun still partly covered, but
light levels are approaching normal. Wind is really starting to pick
up, but again it is Kansas so it is hard to tell if the wind blowing
is anything special or if it's just normal wind.
1:57 wind really blowing now, I'll
call this part of the eclipse, because it just seems different from
normal wind blowing. And it is starting to warm back up. I wish I
had a thermometer and a wind gauge so I could measure the change over
time. I'll have to save up for the 2024 eclipse.
2:08 kind of bummed that I didn't see
any shadow snakes, but it seems those are a rare phenomenon, and
something that just happens during a full eclipse anyway. Just a
dimple left on the left hand side of the sun.
2:14 almost done, just a little crater
left in the side of the sun.
2:20 bugs have been quiet for a while
now, but their activity hasn't been all that exciting anyway. Good
and toasty out side, it is August in Kansas after all. I'm glad that
the next one is in April.
2:27 I'm calling C4 (the end of the
eclipse) I had to pee, the monster energy drink I drank on the way
out of town was a mistake.
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