Eclipse 2024! (Whew!)

This was nearly the eclipse that wasn't. April 8, 2024, the day that almost lived in infamy.  But didn't.  This, of course, was The Great American Eclipse of the Heartland.  We had been planning for this day ever since August 22, 2017, when we had viewed a total solar eclipse in Dubois, Wyoming with our friends Kim and Jane from the United Kingdom.  After that eclipse, we plotted with Jane and Kim to find the most likely spot for this one.  We scouted out Chalk Bluff in 2020 and made campground reservations for this eclipse soon thereafter.

The day for this eclipse dawned much as any other day, except that this day was very cloudy and was not supposed to be cloudy.  We had been hoping for a clear day, and that is why we camped down here at Chalk Bluff River Resort in Uvalde, Texas:  longest totality in the U.S., best chance of clear skies.

We decided to remain optimistic, and Kathy started us off with a batch of Eclipse Pancakes.  Who can not smile at that?

The eclipse was not scheduled for First Contact until 12:12 pm, so we had plenty of time to prepare.  Kathy thought that it would be appropriate to greet the eclipse at lunchtime with -- an Eclipse Lunch:

The star of the lunch was the Phases of the Oreo Eclipse, which Kathy prepared just for the occasion:

The faithful gathered.  Here are Kathy and me gazing up hopefully at the clouds in the sky, hoping that -- possibly -- the sun might put in an appearance -- hopefully during the eclipse:

We weren't the only ones.  Our friends Ginny and Eric also waited with bated breath for the beginning of the show.  David was awestruck at the very thought of the possibility of seeing an eclipse:

Just to cover the bases, our U.K. friends, Kim and Jane, waited for the show about 22 miles up the road at Camp Wood, Texas.  We were sorry we couldn't share it with them as we had the event in 2017, but we hoped that, between our two locations, we might get one or two photos.

Finally, the time arrived.  Just as the moon made first contact, a blessed hole opened in the clouds and we could see it!

The clouds kept flirting with us, first showing the eclipse and then hiding it.  Sometimes showing it naked, and sometimes showing it behind a gauzy veil.  But we got to see it as the moon moved in front of the sun.  Ginny, with her solar camera (one rigged with the equivalent of an eclipse sunglass lens over it) and her regular camera (sans eclipse lens), was ready to catch every stage of the action.  Here, her regular camera caught the glory of the moment of totality -- corona and all!

Ginny's eclipse camera was required at less than totality, because the sun would be too bright for the camera to capture.  Here, as the moon crept silently away from its lover the sun, we caught them wrapped in the gauzy rapture of passing clouds:

Despite our worry about the clouds, we were blessed not only with extensive views of the eclipse, but with many moments where the clouds added touches of romance.  True, we were not able to capture a pristine, perfectly clear image of totality, but one of the other campers at Chalk Bluff, a member of a North Carolina astronomy club, was able to take a clear photo, diamond ring and plasma projections included!  

We'll leave you his photo as the last word: