All in all, things went well.

I had chosen my location only by looking at Google maps and saying, "That place looks good." It was just a gravel drive that ran alongside the main road with a place to pull in at either end about a hundred yards apart. Private property, no doubt but no, "Keep Out," or, "No Trespassing," signs.

Some folks in the town of Holt had posted signs saying, "Eclipse parking, $25."

Screw that.

It was pouring rain when I got there about 10:30 AM. It would be about an hour and 15 minutes or so before the eclipse started. So there I sat, engine running, AC on, listening to NPR's coverage.

A pickup truck pulled in and parked nearby. Then another. After about twenty minutes the first truck left. A few minutes later the other followed.

I kept expecting some grizzled old timer with a shotgun to approach and run me off. Fortunately that did not happen.

The rain was intermittent, heavy at times, not so much at others. About 11:38, ten minutes before show time, it let up. I looked to the southwest and I could see blue sky.

Another car had pulled in and left. The woman driving gave a friendly wave as she went by.

I hadn't acquired viewing glasses but I made a pinhole projector. At 11:50 I got out during a break in the waning cloud cover and took a look. The eclipse was underway.

Almost immediately an SUV pulled in. Two men and a woman got out. One of the men asked could they share my spot?

No problem. I asked if I might borrow his eclipse glasses from time to time. He had an extra pair which he gave to me. This was much appreciated. Viewing directly but safely was far better than the cereal box apparatus.

More people arrived including the car that had been there and left earlier. Some people brought their dogs. One guy was photographing the event. Even more cars arrived and parked across the road.

There were still some clouds but there were frequent breaks and we all followed the progress.

A little after 1:00 PM it was getting noticeably dim. Crickets were starting to chirp.

About 1:08 the last bit of orange disappeared. Now it was safe to view without the glasses.

By this time any clouds were very thin but it was mostly clear and we could view the corona pretty much uninterrupted for the entire period of totality.

Not only was this rare to behold but the twilight effect in the middle of the day was extraordinary.

Some two and a half minutes later the sun began to reappear.

It has been said this is a life changing experience. I don't know about that. But it was definitely good use of a vacation day.


--
'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon, '15 XC70 T6