A Solar Eclipse (Monday, August 21st, 2017)

We were supposed to be heading back to Arizona by now, but Steve's brother and his wife decided to have an eclipse party at the cabin which is very close (96.1%) to the path of the full solar eclipse so we decided we had to stay and see this spectacular event.  
They had purchased eclipse glasses on Amazon, but just days before the event, Amazon put out a notice that some of the glasses they sold were not certified and therefore should not be used.  So Cyndi and Nancy called Nancy's son who is an optometric engineer to see if there was a way to test the glasses to see if they were dark enough for the eclipse.  They came back as not dark enough, so he gave us a UV protective file to add to the inside of them to bring them up to snuff.  Yeah, he saved our solar eclipse!

So we all put on our glasses and went out to enjoy the solar eclipse.

For picture taking, I decided to use a welding mask with the UV protective film inside.  It turned the sun and sky green, but it allowed me to take pictures without hurting my eyes or the camera. This was my practice picture before the eclipse stated.

In true party fashion, there were all kinds of munchies for the event.







When the eclipse started, we were all ready, even the dogs.





It was really fun to be able to watch the actual eclipse for the first time, using our approved glasses.

In the past, eclipses had to be viewed through a pinhole, shining through onto a  white background. Of course, that way still works.

But one of the phenomenons that we didn't realize would happen is that all of the shadows had the shape of the eclipse as well.

The shadow of an aspen tree.

The shadow of a pine tree.

The shadow of the wholes in my hat.

During the eclipse, the temperature dropped about 8 degrees, and it got dark enough that the automatic lights on the shed came on.

It was so nice of Dennis and Cyndi to throw this party, and we are so glad we were able to stay and see it and document it.  Thanks for a great eclipse party!