Partial eclipse viewable via pinhole camera effect of the trees.
And went, and I was so very wrong about “oh, 98% of totality is close enough.”
Yeah, no.
I got to watch* the eclipse from the comfort of my driveway with deck chairs, coffee, and maple bars. Actually, that’s probably how I would spend a nice summer morning regardless of Apocalyptic Doom. Or especially, in that case.**
Most of the time I spent dashing between the house (with KPTV’s live newscast—oh no! Fog has descended on Lincoln City!) and the outside.
What surprised me was that it got eerie. I expected the birds to stop chirping, but the change in sunlight quality surprised me. As the moon eclipsed the sun and started blocking the light, the sunlight seemed to turn almost blue, like a grey filter was getting applied to the world. Then the temperature quickly dropped and I had to run inside to grab a fleece jacket and wool socks. No wonder one could think the world was coming to an end! And then before I knew it***, the eclipse was over and the sunlight got warmer, the birds returned, and it was time to see about lunch.
As much as I enjoyed getting to stay home and watch the (mostly) eclipse there, now I would like to have the full-on Total Solar Eclipse Experience.****
If I can only remember where I filed the eclipse glasses . . .
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*”Watch” via eclipse glasses, a welding helmet, a cereal box pinhole camera, and natural pinhole cameras through the trees. Not all at one time.
**Probably with a stronger drink, though.
***Seriously. It was all of maybe one minute.
****That didn’t come out right. I meant more of a “the moon completely covers the sun and there is absolutely no sunlight” full-on TSEE.