The Day It Went Dark #SkywatchFriday

The sun.  It's ordinary.  We take it for granted, although our lives depend on it.  It rises in the east every day, and sets in the west, ho hum.  Sunrises and sunsets excite us who participate in Skywatch Friday because of their beauty - but 2:41 pm?  Yawn.

Not on August 21.

At 2:41 in the afternoon in August, the sun is usually shining hard and hot in South Carolina. But on Monday, the ordinary became extraordinary.

I had to travel some 800 miles to see The Great American eclipse.  It was a two day journel from my home in upstate New York, to Columbia, South Carolina.  Because I don't post about my travels publically on social media, I had to keep my followers in the dark.  But now, I can tell you about the day the sun went dark.

The trip was not easy.  The build up to the eclipse had become a type of hysteria, fueled by social media. By the time we reached Virginia on Saturday afternoon, parts of I-81 had become a massive parking lot.  Our son, driving separately (his choice) about an hour ahead of us, forged the way for us, finding secondary roads and calling us periodically.   I will admit that we had thoughts about giving up, but he said "I'm not" and we didn't either.  By Sunday, we were in South Carolina, and the traffic had eased up.

We had bought tickets to view the eclipse at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, which is the state capital.  The tickets were a bit expensive, but there was air conditioning, a lot of exhibits to keep us busy (the museum is a combined history and science museum), bathrooms (yes!) and, best of all, we would get free eclipse viewing glasses and free drinking water during the eclipse.  With 95 degree weather, the free water was essential.

I hadn't planned to take pictures.  I wasn't going to take pictures.  I swore I would not waste a minute in taking pictures.  All I had was my iPhone.  I had left my camera home.

But then, I got swept up in the moment.  Right before 1:13 pm, when the eclipse was going to start, we gathered on the front lawn of the museum.  A drone flew overhead (more on that later) and media was there to interview people in the crowd.

I took this picture at 1:11 pm, two minutes before the eclipse started.  When we saw the first tiny chunk taken out of the sun, the crowd cheered.

Outdoor vendors gave out free water, kept on ice, and those booths were constantly replenished with water and ice as we spectators, under our sun hats and suntan lotion (another must), sweltered.  The temperature was 96 degrees.  Clouds had puffed up and some clouds drifted across the sun.

At some point, I forget when, it suddenly occurred to me that I was no longer sweltering.  It was like someone had attached a dimmer switch to the sun.  It was losing its strength.  And, stranger, the clouds were shrinking away from the sun.

Not the same view, I took this at 2:12 pm.  The sky, by then, was definitely showing a different shade but it doesn't show in my picture. My son told me my iPhone was correcting for the difference, and there was no way to turn that off.

By 2:22 pm (19 minutes before totality) my phone finally gave up on auto correcting.  By then, some foliage was taking on a sort-of golden hour (but not quite) hew. And I was spending a lot of time looking at the sun through my glasses.  Remember my "no photos" vow?

2:38 pm.  Three minutes before totality.  The wind had picked up strongly and cicadas were crying out loudly.

And then a shadow swept in from the west, blowing cold on us. In the sky, a diamond ring sparkled on the left side of the sun for a split second, and the sun, high up in the 2:41 pm sky, suddenly was surrounded by a ring of pure white light.  Glasses off.

People in the crowd were yelling, were crying, were pointing, were shivering, as it felt like time was suspended.  This is the part I can't put into words and I won't try.  I was there screaming.  It felt like the right thing to do.

You can click here for a news paper video of totality at the museum where I was watching, and experience it "live".

At 2:42 I tried to take a picture, but it doesn't show totality at all, nor the darkness. I will leave the sun pictures to the more professionals among us.

So I took these pictures instead.

2:42 pm, western horizon.

An apartment building across the street, also at 2:42 pm. (Sorry for the blur).

2:43 pm, western horizon, showing streetlight turned on.

Shortly before the total part of the eclipse ended, I took this picture (same building and trees as the third picture).

 Seconds after totality ended, I took this picture.  You can see the last remnants of the "sunset", noting that the sunset effect would have been all around the horizon, although the building above blocked my 360 degree view.  But look just to the left and the right to the red object in the lower left - you can see several eclipse reflections (they look like smiles).  In fact, I never noticed them until uploading this photo, and I therefore am publishing it larger than the other photos.  I have no idea what these were reflecting off.

This photo, taken shortly after the eclipse ended, still shows some of the colors in the clouds.

And then, things returned to normal.

At #SkywatchFriday, you'll see eclipse and non eclipse photos on other blogs - come check them out!