21 August 2017 Eclipse

We wanted to spend the eclipse together. We planned to go away and get closer to the total path, but that didn't work out. Instead, we headed decided to try Geauga Parks Frohring Meadows to watch the event. We weren't really prepared and had no special glasses, but Ali had a box she built based on plans on the internet while I decided to flip the direction on an old iPhone that I use as a camera. We thought Frohring Meadows is lightly used and wouldn't be crowded...

We were wrong.

We dropped the car and made for the edge of the trail. A cloud rolled across as the eclipse approached, but mostly the sky just got dark and the shadows lengthened.

Since we were near the trail at the edge of the grasslands, we had the interesting opportunity to see how multiple goldfinches responded to the event. For the most part, they seemed to continue focused entirely on eating the sunflowers.

The box Ali prepared worked well although my attempts to hold the box and take an image in focus failed. As for the iPhone, it took interesting images of the eclipse which seemed to be offset from the actual location of the sun. A few reflected the eclipse on the side of my face.

Another visitor shared her second pair of glasses with us. Ali liked the view with them. They didn't show so much for me. Maybe that relates to my blindness in one eye. When all was done, we reverted to nature nuts and took a quick walk around the trail. We agreed that we would plan ahead for the next eclipse and find someplace interesting to be on vacation for that one.

This common whitetail was behaving completely as expected ground perching near a pond. I was surprised it remained at rest for me to capture an image this close.