Here we go again—completely
ignoring the joys of reading and writing to wander off into the trivia of life.
Sorry, I can’t
resist.
On August 21, the good people of the good ol’ USA were treated to a coast-to-coast total eclipse
of the sun. It doesn’t happen very often. For some of us, it will probably
never happen again. So I thought I’d comment on the spectacle.
Where we
live in Utah, 91% of the sun was obscured, leaving only a tiny crescent of the
orb visible through our approved eclipse-viewing glasses. My wife and I sat on
the driveway looking up from time to time for quite a spell.
But what we
found most intriguing wasn’t in the sky—it was on the ground, at our feet.
Shading much
of our driveway is a big (and messy) tree. Some kind of elm, we think. Where
the sun peeked through the thick foliage, the tree created hundreds of “pinhole
projectors” that cast the eclipsing sun on the concrete surface of the
driveway. That’s what you’re seeing in the photo above—each of the many
crescents is an image of the eclipsed sun.
We thought
it was kind of neat, so we took a bunch of pictures of it. Later, on TV, one of
the NASA experts mentioned the phenomenon. I doubt I’ll ever see it again.
Next time,
it’s back to reading and writing. Unless, that is, some other strange and
spectacular thing happens.
What a fortuitous, beautiful discovery. We are at a similar latitude in Colorado, and were surprised that it did not grow dimmer. The drop in temperature, on the other hand, was very noticeable. I am glad you and your wife enjoyed the spectacle.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tanja. It was a thing to see.
DeleteMy daughter had the same experience in Central Utah. Two enormous trees in our backyard have branches that meet in the middle. She had the same effect when taking a picture.
ReplyDeleteI hope she enjoyed the effect as much as we did. Quite a sight. Thanks, Diane.
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