Today there will be a total eclipse of the sun that will travel across a strip of North America from Mexico, through the US, and then a section of Maritime Canada. As is usual, whenever such an event happens, it is hyped up until everyone is sick of hearing about it. At this point, I guess I should apologize, because I am going to add to all of the hoopla by telling of our eclipse experience.
Back in 1991, I read that there was going to be a total eclipse in Hawaii. I hadn’t been in that tropical paradise, that had made such an impression on me, since my Peace Corp training in 1969. Coupling that with the fact that we had family in Hawaii (my wife’s brother and his wife), all seem to be good reasons to travel to the islands to see the eclipse.
We booked our flight, contacted our relatives, and some old friends we had made in McBride, who had moved to the Big Island and arranged a visit. The Big Island of Hawaii was one of the best places to see the eclipse in totality.
It was wonderful to go to Hawaii again, but shocking to see how much development had occurred in the 20 years of my absence. We stayed with our friends Richard and Diane who lived in Kona, on the dry side of the island, and Richard figured that he knew just the spot to watch the eclipse.
The eclipse was to occur early in the morning, which was a bit of a disappointment, since it wouldn’t be quite as dramatic as it would have been if it happened midday. We got up in the early dark of the morning, and Richard drove us to the spot to watch the eclipse. When the morning started breaking, we were dismayed to see the overcast sky, with thick clouds. It was not something we expected on the dry side of the island.
The morning brightened up, but the clouds remained. What a disappointment. Then the sky began to darken, as the moon moved in front of the sun, hidden behind those damn clouds.
Fortunately as the eclipse moved toward totality, there was a break in the clouds, and we did get to see the eclipse, just the ring around the edge of the moon. (Photo above)
As it turned out, we were extremely lucky because many people who, like us, had traveled to Hawaii to experience the eclipse, were rained out, unable to see anything of the astronomical event.
I was surprised at how the eclipse happened. I thought the moon would move sideways across the sun, but it moved from the top of the sun to the bottom. After witnessing the eclipse we thought about how neat it would be to travel to other places to watch future eclipses, but that never happened.
Today’s eclipse will be total in Dallas, where my brother and his family live, and also in Evansville, Indiana, my sister’s home and my home town. I hope everyone in those places have a cloud-free day.
Below is a photo I took after our Hawaiian eclipse had happened. You can see all the myriad of people who lined the highway to witness the event.
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