Awesome!
A family road trip. Picnic and back roads. Wishing for a paper map because, while the phones are informative, the details are difficult to "stretch" into existence. The phone benefit is the red line, heavy traffic warning. I-65 and 31E. The phone experts in the car found a route and we had an adventure. Springfield. Lebanon. Across the Green River. Columbia and the Cumberland Parkway. Edmonton. Haywood and Barren River Lake to Scottsville. A spectacular drive through rural Kentucky.
While watching previews from Oregon.
We found a small park. Paid our $5 to park and claimed a vacant spot. We spread our blankets, set up chairs and ate an amazing picnic lunch among a thousand or so other spectators. Lots of funny glasses, tents, coolers, kids, telescopes, cameras and excitement. Vendors sold festival food, watermelon and slushies.
A festive, holiday Monday in south central Kentucky.
The blue sky back dropped nature's spectacle with only a few wispy clouds. Hot. High 80's. Humid. August.
We arrived just as the moon approached the sun and we watched through our paper safety glasses while the cloaking began. A local man had his telescope set up with protective lenses and invited every passerby to have a look. A sun of brilliant, golden yellow with a dark circle encroaching.
As the moon slid across, the temperature dropped and the crowd quieted. The hot dog man turned off his generator and the venue was stilled. Whispers of conversation. People mesmerized by nature's theater. Not a leaf moved. Did the clouds actually stand still? No dogs barking. No traffic noise. No music.
As the temperature dropped and the light faded an energy seemed to surround us. A blur, a haze of just the slightest distortion of the outline of things. Complete dark didn't happen so the remarkable thing was how much light the sun provided even with the smallest fingernail of itself visible.
When totality was reached, a cheer arose. The awkward glasses came off and all voiced in wonder. Awestruck at the black hole and it's corona of glimmering white glory. A super white electric with a small red flame of light and beauty. Not blocking all light.
Dusk at 1:30 pm. Eerie. Still. Stillness. A calm, quiet, stillness.
Planets hung in a muted fuzzy day sky the night sky darker, like their point of light against denim not solid dark.
Taking the brief opportunity to scan the fields during totality we saw a hazy dawn atop the hazy trees.
And then in total reverse shapes the moon continued it's journey. And the glasses were again put on as the sun reappeared.
The 2 1/2 hour drive there. The 4 1/2 hour drive home. Worth every second of this wonderstruck one hour experience.
Going into a crowd of total strangers feeling totally safe to share an event of a lifetime together in peace and awe - Priceless.
