Well Campers, isn't it a wonderful time to be alive? I mean so much to wonder about in the world today. For instance, what new word/phrase other than wonderful is the most powerful, smartest, politest man in the world who was ever elected in the cleanest election ever conducted in the history of mankind, gonna come up with today.
That's certainly a wonder...isn't it?
That's not my cup of tea though. I'm more interested in wondering about things from a Higher Power.
As many of you realize there's going to be a total eclipse of the sun today. I've seen a few in my day, although I don't recall seeing any total eclipse's, just partial. I could be wrong/forgetful. The latter is becoming more and more common and concerning.
However, today is going to be a Total one for us.
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The dotted red line from top center to bottom left is the path of the eclipse. The red dot in the top is a graphic interpretation of little old me, sitting on my porch looking at it (with my protective glasses on of course, blindness being another of my biggest fears).
One way or another it should be plenty dark from 1332 to 1337 CDT today.
What do you mean one way or another, juvat?
Well, Beans, this was the weather Saturday.
If that's the weather pattern Monday (this post was written on Sunday), it'll be much like a quick sunset and sunrise on a cloud covered day. Gets dark then gets lightish again. Ho-hum, So we had a sunset and sunrise within 5 minutes? No Big Deal. And the 75,000 visitors that are estimated to have shown up will be disappointed.
And no, I ain't refunding their cabin rental money. The entire human race couldn't influence that astronomical and/or weather event one iota. (Nope, not even our bloviating politicians could produce enough hot air to make the clouds go away.)
But, if it's like this, which it was after Church yesterday, events should be exciting. BTW, that 75,000 number? I can't confirm its authenticity, but Church at the 0730 Mass was packed, even more so than Easter Sunday. That is highly unusual for that early Mass.
So...Will the eclipse be visible?
Maybe....Maybe Not! If it is, I'll update this post and add a picture or two.
UPDATE:
Weather wasn't optimum, but we got some pictures
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This is just to show where we were with regards to the sun's track. That's our roof with the light spot to the left being the sun.
The clouds helped filter out the sunlight, not a Pulitzer winning photo, but...
Got dark enough for the automatic porch lights to come on in our guest houses.
It was interesting. The cloud cover helped filter the sunlight so pictures could be taken. The dark glasses helped before the clouds moved in, but taking pictures through them didn't result in any usable pics, so I guess it was a compromise.
End Update
On a separate note, our typical Sunday routine is to go to the 0730 Mass then go get Breakfast at Texas Sunrise Cafe. As an aside, Eggs over medium and Chicken Fried Steak are my usual. Yummm! In any case, we did that yesterday. As we were departing, carrying Miss B to the car, she indicated she wanted to get down. She can be quite persuasive, so we put her down and held her hands.
Yep! She's growing up and starting to do "Big Girl" things, AKA walking. Still needs a bit of support, but...She's getting there.
Speaking of Miss B brings to mind woodworking projects. The Pikler Triangle project is almost ready for final assembly. Mrs J. is doing a fine job of putting the emblem on the connecting pieces.
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Again, stupid cell phone hasn't got the color right, instead of the Texas Tech Red it's showing, the color is actually an A&M Maroon, as it should be. Mrs J will add a couple more coats of white, then a protective clear coat on all the parts, then assembly and Voila'! Another project in the completed column.
No Beans, that won't leave me bored, Mrs J has already brought up ideas for a couple more projects for me.
Ain't life grand, in spite of its uncertainties?
Peace out, y'all!
Was wondering where you were in relation to the track of the eclipse. Now that Miss B is starting her journey to becoming ambulatory perhaps bright colors is a good clothing strategy for her, she can stand out a bit, more locatable eh juvat?
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeleteThe problem with clothes at this stage is they grow out of them in a matter of seconds (ok, SLIGHT exaggeration). However, bright colors are highly encouraged. She's pretty talented at playing hide and seek, even if I don't know I'm IT.
juvat
I’m not often this early. But then I am not often on the south shore of Lake Erie visiting my twin cousin (we were born hours apart on the same day and lived next doors to each other for our first five years).
ReplyDeleteSeven years ago MB and I visited Oregon for the last total eclipse. When we became aware of today’s event, we decided to make every effort to see it, as well. We originally figured to visit her nephew a little southwest of here. Then my Cuz and Mrs Cuz moved here to be near their daughter’s family and better medical care because of his Parkinsons Disease.
Anyhow, that’s what brung here. The rest of our adventures over the next couple of months just kinda developed from that.
We’re hear to visit my cousin. The eclipse will be a bonus… if the skies clear. It rained overnight.
Driving in yesterday, we saw lots of out of state license plates, and noticed that gasoline prices got higher and higher as we got closer to the “epicenter.”
Hope the skies clear for ya, Juvat. Anything but a total eclipse is just a little shade… really!
(NNYU) Skip
Skip, Good to hear from you. Hope the Dr's are treating you and yours well and successfully. Prayers headed your way.
DeleteOut of state license plates? Lately? Yeah, although this is a tourist town and OOS plates are not unusual, lately the number thereof has exponentially increased and the states they're from? Not a surprise. The two western C states are prominent. I just wish they'd realize that they're no longer in that state and the informal rules of driving are different here. One tends to use their blinkers. No, the first 15 seconds of a red light do not mean you're cleared to go through that light. The speed limit is not a recommendation, 1 or 2 MPH over is somewhat tolerated, double digits over, Nope.
Remember what happened in your state and why you left. Don't make the same mistake again. Vote smart! Which means don't vote just for party, if you haven't done your homework to decide who to vote for on a given office on the ballot. leave it blank.
As to the eclipse. Weather forecast has it clearing up at about 11AM and staying that way until about 3PM. Either the weather guessers are playing games or the guy upstairs wants us to see his handiwork. Hope it's the latter.
Peace out, Skip!
juvat
Seeing the two of you walking down the street with Miss B really gave me a smile. Great way to start a Monday. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteSarge,
DeleteYeah, we liked it also. The three grand kids are great, but Miss B has overcome a lot of hurdles and is doing quite well in catching up to her age group. I spend quite a bit of time saying thanks to the Big Guy for that.
juvat
Very cloudy here in northeast Ohio this morning. We are hoping for at least partially sunny this afternoon. I'm excited!
ReplyDeleteMary,
DeleteThere's a saying in Texas, "If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes, it'll change." It's pretty cloud covered right now, but seems to be clearing as it gets warmer, so, fingers crossed.
juvat
During the 2017 total eclipse it got colder when the sun was covered, I was surprised. It was a clear day, I wonder if things will cool down on a cloudy day?
ReplyDeleteIt's clear here but I'm well south (central FL) of the total coverage area.
Rob,
DeleteThe local paper put out some "Eclipse Facts" in this week's edition. One of those was to expect a 20 degree drop in temp during the totality. Makes sense, if it turn off the burner on the stove, the temperature goes down. I would assume that the cloud cover might moderate that drop a bit, but the heat is still off...
The forecast has a 3 hour window of clear(ish) skies during that part of the day, so...fingers crossed.
juvat
Eclipse- bah humbug. We just get a bonus nightfall and daybreak at goofy times. Driving into Tejas today despite, not because of, astronomical eccentricities, and hope the gawkers are off the road.
ReplyDeleteJB
JB, I read that the state is expecting 1/2 million visitors here today. Good luck with your driving.
Deletejuvat
Weather and eclipse. 1970's, Seattle, there was a heavy cloud cover and rain (Seattle, who would have guessed). All that was noticeable is being dark for a few minutes in the middle of the day. Hope yours doesn't turn out the same.
ReplyDeleteWSF,
DeleteMe too! But, clear skies in Seattle? That's pretty much a miracle in itself, isn't it?
juvat
Even if you don't get to observe the eclipse itself, the sky will darken, the birds will fall silent, and it will become cooler.
ReplyDeleteHere, wonder of wonders (Cue Model the Tailor) the sky here will be clear for an astronomical event. Supposed to be something like 43% covered. So, slightly darker. I may go out and look at the sidewalk where trees throw shade. (looks out the window...hmmm...not leafed out yet) Or maybe take a small grater out to throw shadow on the sidewalk and act as a pinhole camera.
Joe,
DeleteWell, we shall see what we shall (or not) see very shortly. Got my super high tech sun glasses at the ready.
juvat
Here all that really happened is it got a little less light - not really even enough to call "dimmed," and the quality of the light changed in some undefinable way. It just "felt wrong." I tried the grater trick and I think the holes were too big to focus it. I've seen some partial eclipses and under the trees there was a myriad of little images of the Sun as the overlapping of the leaves acted as pinholes to focus the light.
DeleteJoe,
DeleteEarly stages were quite observable. Later stages were easier to observe as the clouds absorbed most of the sunlight, but that was on the edges of the clouds. When the sun centered on them, couldn't see much. It did get interestingly dark, dark enough that our automatic porch lights cut on. It was interesting. Don't need to see another one for a while, though.
juvat
Ha. Weather. I live in the same state as the most active launch site in the world (thanks to SpaceX) and every time there's a launch that I should be able to see, well, my AOA gets socked in. Bastid weatherguessers. Maybe we'll be able to see the launch of a Starship/Booster in a few years.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't help that we can't see the horizon well because of all the trees. Bastid tree city, bah, humbug.
As to eclipses, yawn. It's a natural phenomenon that I really am not interested the least about. I'm fine as long as I don't have to be on the road at the same time as all the idiots.
Other than that, seems your phone is an Aggie booster, no?
Mrs. Juvat is looking rather spry. Is she feeling better overall?
Beans,
DeleteYeah, when we were assigned to Moody in Valdosta GA, the horizon thing was a view factor also. Although there wasn't much construction in the Okeefenokee swamp, so occasional transitions from sub to super (sonic) weren't the OMG crime they were elsewhere, so good comes with bad, usually.
Re: Eclipse, I'll go out and take a look (sky's about 50% cloud cover) just to see. So far, no problem with crowds on our property or roads thereto, so good news. Haven't ventured out to the highway, just don't want to press my luck.
Re: the phone, I'm thinking there should be a "not" in that statement. A&M colors are Maroon and White, not Red and Blue.
Re: Mrs J. She is feeling better. The Doc said she might start feeling bad about the 3rd (of 4) week of radiation, but during the Chemo part, was feeling pretty crappy very shortly after the first weekly treatment, didn't get much better through the 6 months thereof. I think the excellent end of Chemo report boosted her spirits significantly. Didn't hurt mine any either.
juvat
No eclipse here, but I am glad the hundred mile an hour winds have stopped.....
ReplyDeleteAG9,
DeleteI'll bet! An eclipse or no eclipse is way better than 100K winds hands down. Glad you're ok.
juvat
Seeing how it's happening right now as I write this, how's the cloud cover? I hope you have your welders' glasses for safe viewing!
ReplyDeleteTuna,
DeleteCloud cover started off at about 30% coverage, but by the time the big event happened, it was more like 80% coverage. But, like I say below, it actually made it easier to observe as the clouds blocked most but not all sunlight.
No welders' glasses, but some Gay-roan-teed solar eclipse proof glasses were purchased from the Grocery store.
;-)
juvat
Just a blogger in general comment ... the last few days clicking the "Notify Me" box at the end of a comment does not work for me, others too from looking around the internet. I have found no answers yet but that should cut down on the number of hits you get in a day as I'd usually come back here if I wanted to say something about a comment someone else had written. No email with the comment to me means no return trip to the blog to say something.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I came back late is the day to see if I was having a problem or if it was that no one had commented at all.... that doesn't happen on this blog! :-)
Rob,
DeleteI have the same problem. That's why my comments are headed as Anonymous and I add my "callsign" at the end. I've had that problem for a year or more. I've had it on other blogger driven sites, but not all. So, it might not be something in Sarge's control. Just an update.
juvat
I've never used that feature. This is a test of the feature. Stand by.
DeleteDid anything happen?
DeleteNot yet.
DeleteNada.
DeleteThat capability appears to be broken. There's nothing I can do to turn it on or off.
DeleteNot much to see up here, and I sure as...well, I wasn't going to drive to Dallas. Like you I've seen a few over the years. Glad things are going well for all!
ReplyDeleteOld NFO,
DeleteIt was kinda interesting. The glasses that were sold virtually everywhere in town, worked. You could look directly at the sun throughout the whole cycle without a problem. (You could also take pictures through them.) However, they minimized the size of the sun, so what you saw wasn't quite right. Had to use them for the first 15 min or so of the iteration. Then the clouds came in and while some were too thin and others too thick, most were, just like in the 3 Bears Fable, just right. You could look at them with your eyes and take pretty good pictures also. Our retired Army neighbor had a bunch of his friends bring their RV's and camp on his property. (He's got WAAAAYYY more acreage than I). We could hear them whooping it up through the whole iteration, so all was not wasted. Although I suspect quite a bit of them were. ;-)
Thanks.
juvat
That is a great picture JuvT!
ReplyDeleteGlad you survived Eclipse Apocalypse 2024!
Sigh. “Juvat”. Thanks, autocorrect and small phone screen…
DeleteYou had hash browns with the chicken fried steak, didn't you?
ReplyDelete