Eclipse

Michael was wrong.  He said we needed to head up to Crouch on Friday morning to beat the eclipse crowds.  I was exhausted and did not want to go on another trip.  I argued the eclipse from Boise would be fine, especially with the kids starting school the day after. I lost the argument and we got in the car Friday morning and headed up to Aunt Toni's cabin.  We played in the river, watched a few movies, and relaxed.  A couple of friends joined us Sunday afternoon, and guess what?!  No traffic!  I win, Michael was wrong.

Monday morning we all settled in to watch the eclipse.  Most of us, anyway, as those under ten were at the river catching water skippers.

We all stared at the sun with glasses because we are smarter than the current president and a random rapper.

Watching the moon move across the sun was interesting, the temperature drop was interesting, the company was wonderful.  Michael, of course, had an app on his phone that announced what changes to look for in the environment and the current eclipse progress.  At one point the phone announced that we should note animal behavior.  Everyone stared at Harley, while she looked curiously back at us.  Shortly thereafter, all the humans started running around exclaiming over shadows.  I think we may have been observing the wrong animals.

The moment the eclipse hit totality, I realized I was wrong.  99.5% eclipse viewing in Boise would not have been sufficient.  In the first moments of the eclipse, all you could hear were the gasps of our group.  There were no words.  Then everyone started hollering like we had won the super bowl.  It was a moment of pure wonder and excitement.  The temperature dropped more, a few stars came out, a bat flew out into the false night.  It was a purely perfect moment.

Michael may have been wrong about the crowds, but I was wrong about wanting to stay home.  We will call it a draw this time.  And, for those wondering, coming home wasn't too awful.  It took us about 2.5 hours, so an hour longer than usual.  Not a bad trade off, if you ask me.