Great American Solar Eclipse

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Was ~90% in the DC area. Not nearly like a full eclipse, but was still a good reason to bug out of work so I could watch with my son.

Birds kept chirping. Our cat Max didn't give a crap (well actually he did -- in one of the mulch beds), and my wife kept working in the garden.

All-in-all I give it a "was okay, won't rush to do again" rating. I saw a couple totals when I was a wee lad so I'm admittedly a bit jaded.

Oh, and it was hard as fuhk to get a semi-decent photo. So I spent a bit of time fiddling with phone camera settings.

The big 'plus' is I received a new knife today :cool:
 
Despite being overcast it was interesting observing the wildlife. Most of the time the birds were chirping as normal except in totality and a few minutes before. As it got darker the birds acted like sunset and sung sunset songs. When it got dark it was silent. As soon as light started coming back they started up again quickly.
 
Justinv said:
Despite being overcast it was interesting observing the wildlife. Most of the time the birds were chirping as normal except in totality and a few minutes before. As it got darker the birds acted like sunset and sung sunset songs. When it got dark it was silent. As soon as light started coming back they started up again quickly.
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I also noticed spiders started webbing hard
 
aporigine said:
It’s at the center of our solar system
but that’s not important right now.
Click to expand...
As light dimmed, I couldn’t figure out where the sun was in overcast sky. I Tried photographs with an slr camera and got nothing interesting. In fact putzing around with the camera detracted from me enjoying the experience. Don’t bother with a camera if its overcast. Unfortunately I’ll never be able to experience a total eclipse in my back yard again.

A benefit to overcast sky is eclipse glasses were completely unnecessary and useless. I put them on and just saw solid black. 1 hour before eclipse I used sunglasses to look towards sun. 30min before totality, no sunglasses were needed. During totality, flashlight would be more helpful than sunglasses- it was dark enough that I walked into a plant. There was some shimmer of light in the sky in one area, enough to highlight a few clouds.

Oh, and whoever it was in my neighborhood that ran a gas leaf-blower 10 minutes before totality needs endless suffering.

I live near a prominent waterfront that is very picturesque and a 5-min walk away but I chose to just sit in my backyard and observe wildlife. It was the right choice. I don’t think where you are matters that much. The waterfront is busier on any Thursday night than today. Many neighbors had the same idea and just sat in their yard. I know my yard and its the best place to see how wildlife acts differently.

As far as the massive over hype, where was everyone? 2 hours before totality I took a walk in a park and along the waterfront. Police were driving ATVs on hiking trails. There was no one there. Parking spots were available everywhere and they would be full on any decent Saturday afternoon. Or any normal weekday afternoon. Either everyone just hung out wherever they were or everyone fled to find better weather.

I observed no traffic all day. The experts were advising to pick your spot by 8am because gridlock would consume the entire area.
 
Justinv said:
As light dimmed, I couldn’t figure out where the sun was in overcast sky. I Tried photographs with an slr camera and got nothing interesting. In fact putzing around with the camera detracted from me enjoying the experience. Don’t bother with a camera if its overcast. Unfortunately I’ll never be able to experience a total eclipse in my back yard again.

A benefit to overcast sky is eclipse glasses were completely unnecessary and useless. I put them on and just saw solid black. 1 hour before eclipse I used sunglasses to look towards sun. 30min before totality, no sunglasses were needed. During totality, flashlight would be more helpful than sunglasses- it was dark enough that I walked into a plant. There was some shimmer of light in the sky in one area, enough to highlight a few clouds.

Oh, and whoever it was in my neighborhood that ran a gas leaf-blower 10 minutes before totality needs endless suffering.

I live near a prominent waterfront that is very picturesque and a 5-min walk away but I chose to just sit in my backyard and observe wildlife. It was the right choice. I don’t think where you are matters that much. The waterfront is busier on any Thursday night than today. Many neighbors had the same idea and just sat in their yard. I know my yard and its the best place to see how wildlife acts differently.

As far as the massive over hype, where was everyone? 2 hours before totality I took a walk in a park and along the waterfront. Police were driving ATVs on hiking trails. There was no one there. Parking spots were available everywhere and they would be full on any decent Saturday afternoon. Or any normal weekday afternoon. Either everyone just hung out wherever they were or everyone fled to find better weather.

I observed no traffic all day. The experts were advising to pick your spot by 8am because gridlock would consume the entire area.
Click to expand...
My aunt and uncle decided to drive down from Chicago to visit us in Indianapolis. Usually a 3.5 hour drive. They left at 8am. Texted at 1:00 they weren’t going to make it. They made it to the edge of totality 5 minutes before the total eclipse, about an hour from our house. So yeah, there was traffic, at least on the interstate between Chicago and Indy.
 
Heckel7302 said:
My aunt and uncle decided to drive down from Chicago to visit us in Indianapolis. Usually a 3.5 hour drive. They left at 8am. Texted at 1:00 they weren’t going to make it. They made it to the edge of totality 5 minutes before the total eclipse, about an hour from our house. So yeah, there was traffic, at least on the interstate between Chicago and Indy.
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This is the traffic map for the highways that were along the eclipse's path. I think it was right after the eclipse.

1712649889679.png
 
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