The Great American Eclipse 2017
Last Saturday morning found us hurriedly packing food and clothing and other supplies into the camper for a trip to Lakeside, Nebraska. This was our postponed 4th of July trip that didn't pan out this year due to the holiday landing in the middle of the week and work schedules, etc. We always look forward to our summer trip to Lakeside where we do NOTHING. And I mean NOTHING. We don't even go get our snacks and drinks, we ask the kids to bring them to us.
Well this year didn't disappoint! We arrived to find that the pop-up tent was already "popped up" and all I needed to do was set up my own lawn chair and find a cold drink! So for the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday we enjoyed sitting in the warm breeze, visiting and watching kids play and trying to keep the dogs from fighting. We had grilled burgers and summer salads and brownies and all sorts of good stuff to eat and drink. It was a very relaxing couple days.
However, there was an undercurrent of excitement and anticipation that ran through the group...Monday was eclipse day, and we were excited!
So Monday morning dawned with the air of anticipation in the heavier traffic and the presence of more people than I have ever seen in Lakeside at any one time...or for that matter cummulitevly in all the times I've been there. We fed everyone breakfast then began to put together our viewing plan.
About 10:00 MT we rounded up the group, packed our lawn chairs and a cooler of drinks, not forgetting to grab our eclipse glasses and cameras, and loaded into two vehicles to head to our viewing spot. We were fortunate that April's husband Bobby had asked permission from a local landowner to hold our party on the top of a hill in his pasture which gave us a great view of the countryside.
Se we got everyone situated and coached in the use of the eclipse glasses. Everyone got comfy, and it became obvious that those who had zero-gravity lawn chairs were going to be more comfy than those of us who had camp chairs, but oh well, no one was complaining. We soon discovered that it was kind of warm up there in the sun but there was a nice breeze blowing so we would survive.
Finally, about 10:30 we saw the beginning of the eclipse. I can't remember who discovered it, but the call went out and everyone was looking at the sun slowly being eaten by the shadow of the moon. We didn't watch uninterrupted as progress was pretty slow and it was going to take 90 minutes for it to reach totality, but we kept checking in and as the moment of totality approached, everyone stayed put looking to the sky.
As we were waiting for totality to approach, we noticed several changes. The breeze became progressively cooler...to the point that some of the kids went to the car and looked for jackets. And, while it was still fully daylight, it was a dim daylight, kind of like when the screen of your phone dims just before it goes black. There was obviously something happening by that time.
As the moment of totality became a reality, all the glasses came off and we were all taking pictures and exclaiming about what we were seeing. We had about 2.5 minutes of totality, which wasn't totally dark, just a heavy-dusk or the first-light-of-dawn kind of dark. We weren't in danger of losing track of one another. 2.5 minutes is not a long time under any circumstances, but it was especially short during the eclipse. It moved on very fast. We watched until the "diamond ring" showed then the call went out to put the glasses back on.
It was fun seeing the 360 degree sunrise/sunset thing. I tried to get pictures but didn't think that I would need to reset my camera to get a decent picture in the near dark, so they were blurry. But it was interesting to be in a circle of darkness with light on the horizon all the way around us.
So, all too soon, the moment of totality was over with and the process reversed itself as the moon moved out of the sun's way and the lights slowly came on and the temps warmed up. We didn't stay up on the hill for all the last 90 minutes since we didn't figure we would see anything we hadn't seen before so it was a bit anti-climactic. And it was now after lunch time and we were all hungry again!
I heard opinions of the eclipse watchers ranging all the way from very enthusiastic to those who poo-pooed the idea as ridiculous. I was enthused from the start, but it took Mike longer to get very excited about it. In fact, he was the most excited after watching it. In my mind, I figured this might be the only time we would ever see a total eclipse of this magnitude. True it was such a short period of time, but it was still awesome for 2.5 minutes!
So there is my story of the eclipse party and our experience! But somehow I feel it was bigger than just the eclipse. In a day and age where there are no moral absolutes and the hand of God is not given much recognition, God's handiwork was very much in evidence on Monday, August 21, 2017. Of course, it's there all the time, but even though it can be scientifically explained, true science proves the existence of God, not disproves as many will claim.
I try to stay away from politics and religion in my blog, but I am making an exception this once: Many try to discredit the Bible and our other foundational documents. History is being rewritten day by day, and every commemorative statue is being torn down, but there just wasn't much anyone could do to stop the eclipse or make an argument against it...except to say it was no big deal!
Romans 1:20 says it best:
Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgement Day.
The Bible also talks about another event that we will be seeing in the future, the day that Jesus comes back to earth in the clouds to call his chosen home. That day will make the 2017 eclipse pale to almost nothing in comparison.
So the Great American Eclipse is in the books. Some will probably be lucky enough to see another in a few years, in fact you only need to travel to the Eastern US in 7 years to catch the next one. As for us, we are not going to become "eclipse chasers". We are so glad we got to see this once-in-a-lifetime event but will be happy with that. We have too many other places we want to go and things we want to see and do. But at least I was able to cross one item off my bucket list!
Well this year didn't disappoint! We arrived to find that the pop-up tent was already "popped up" and all I needed to do was set up my own lawn chair and find a cold drink! So for the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday we enjoyed sitting in the warm breeze, visiting and watching kids play and trying to keep the dogs from fighting. We had grilled burgers and summer salads and brownies and all sorts of good stuff to eat and drink. It was a very relaxing couple days.
However, there was an undercurrent of excitement and anticipation that ran through the group...Monday was eclipse day, and we were excited!
So Monday morning dawned with the air of anticipation in the heavier traffic and the presence of more people than I have ever seen in Lakeside at any one time...or for that matter cummulitevly in all the times I've been there. We fed everyone breakfast then began to put together our viewing plan.
About 10:00 MT we rounded up the group, packed our lawn chairs and a cooler of drinks, not forgetting to grab our eclipse glasses and cameras, and loaded into two vehicles to head to our viewing spot. We were fortunate that April's husband Bobby had asked permission from a local landowner to hold our party on the top of a hill in his pasture which gave us a great view of the countryside.
 |
| Our little group looking to the sky to await the great event. |
Finally, about 10:30 we saw the beginning of the eclipse. I can't remember who discovered it, but the call went out and everyone was looking at the sun slowly being eaten by the shadow of the moon. We didn't watch uninterrupted as progress was pretty slow and it was going to take 90 minutes for it to reach totality, but we kept checking in and as the moment of totality approached, everyone stayed put looking to the sky.
As we were waiting for totality to approach, we noticed several changes. The breeze became progressively cooler...to the point that some of the kids went to the car and looked for jackets. And, while it was still fully daylight, it was a dim daylight, kind of like when the screen of your phone dims just before it goes black. There was obviously something happening by that time.
As the moment of totality became a reality, all the glasses came off and we were all taking pictures and exclaiming about what we were seeing. We had about 2.5 minutes of totality, which wasn't totally dark, just a heavy-dusk or the first-light-of-dawn kind of dark. We weren't in danger of losing track of one another. 2.5 minutes is not a long time under any circumstances, but it was especially short during the eclipse. It moved on very fast. We watched until the "diamond ring" showed then the call went out to put the glasses back on.
It was fun seeing the 360 degree sunrise/sunset thing. I tried to get pictures but didn't think that I would need to reset my camera to get a decent picture in the near dark, so they were blurry. But it was interesting to be in a circle of darkness with light on the horizon all the way around us.
So, all too soon, the moment of totality was over with and the process reversed itself as the moon moved out of the sun's way and the lights slowly came on and the temps warmed up. We didn't stay up on the hill for all the last 90 minutes since we didn't figure we would see anything we hadn't seen before so it was a bit anti-climactic. And it was now after lunch time and we were all hungry again!
I heard opinions of the eclipse watchers ranging all the way from very enthusiastic to those who poo-pooed the idea as ridiculous. I was enthused from the start, but it took Mike longer to get very excited about it. In fact, he was the most excited after watching it. In my mind, I figured this might be the only time we would ever see a total eclipse of this magnitude. True it was such a short period of time, but it was still awesome for 2.5 minutes!
So there is my story of the eclipse party and our experience! But somehow I feel it was bigger than just the eclipse. In a day and age where there are no moral absolutes and the hand of God is not given much recognition, God's handiwork was very much in evidence on Monday, August 21, 2017. Of course, it's there all the time, but even though it can be scientifically explained, true science proves the existence of God, not disproves as many will claim.
I try to stay away from politics and religion in my blog, but I am making an exception this once: Many try to discredit the Bible and our other foundational documents. History is being rewritten day by day, and every commemorative statue is being torn down, but there just wasn't much anyone could do to stop the eclipse or make an argument against it...except to say it was no big deal!
Romans 1:20 says it best:
Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgement Day.
The Bible also talks about another event that we will be seeing in the future, the day that Jesus comes back to earth in the clouds to call his chosen home. That day will make the 2017 eclipse pale to almost nothing in comparison.
So the Great American Eclipse is in the books. Some will probably be lucky enough to see another in a few years, in fact you only need to travel to the Eastern US in 7 years to catch the next one. As for us, we are not going to become "eclipse chasers". We are so glad we got to see this once-in-a-lifetime event but will be happy with that. We have too many other places we want to go and things we want to see and do. But at least I was able to cross one item off my bucket list!
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