Eclipse 2024

My wife and I stepped out of our apartment this afternoon to see
the 2024 solar eclipse. We live in Massachusetts, which wasn't in 
the path of totality, but it got close.

Using our ISO approved solar eclipse viewing glasses, we were able
to discern the moon creeping into the path of the sun. It was freaky
when I first looked at it! In 2017, I didn't have a pair of eclipse
viewing glasses, so I could only make do with pinhole viewers, and
borrowing someone else's glasses for a moment.

I gazed at the moon as it crept further into the sun's path. The day
was bright and cloudless and quite warm, but when the eclipse started
it turned slightly darker and cooler. The dimmed sunlight looked
faintly menacing. 

After the moon covered as much as it could from our viewing angle, we
made our way back home. Our daughter excitedly reported her experience 
from Vermont, underneath the path of totality. She said the people who 
said it would feel transcendental "were not wrong." I loved that!

When her parents were looking at the sun, she was looking at the sun also.
We were connected, both celestially and via our phones. It felt powerful
and peaceful. The next eclipse in the United States will be 2044. I'll
be pretty pleased if I am still around to post about it here...