The main event

The day came with a bit of cloud cover as the crew of amateur astronomers began setting up the site. But in unbelievable fashion, the clouds quickly moved off and the deep blue, unobstructed sky showed itself ready for what was to come.

The buffet bar was set up well in advance with all the stellar themed items.  Eclipse cabernet, Lunar chardonnay, Going to the Sun IPA, Moon Pies – pretty much everything commercially marketed in food and beverage that had a stellar theme or name.

The motor homes providing the shade for the eclipse observers were decked out with star themed stickies and other themed stuff. After the telescope complex was set up and the themed party goods were put out, folk from all over the RV Park came by to get a peek at the approaching main event.

As the moon began passing over the sun, the Eclipsters (term coined by Teresita herself) donned their NASA approved sun glasses and prepared for the show.

Even Kona decided to get in on the fun.

But when the 2 minutes of totality arrived, it was surprisingly almost a religious or spiritual experience. The temperature dropped easily 25-130 degrees, and the RV Park became dark – it seemed like it was the middle of the night. The corona of the sun surrounding the black of the moon was awesome.

The astronomer experts in the group were mumbling a bit – they were disappointed about not having seen the “diamond” at the start of the 2 minutes of totality. Well, they soon became elated when near the end of the totality, the diamond appeared – where the ring of the corona around the moon thins, with a sparkle in one spot of the corona that results in the clear image of a sparking diamond ring!

As the totality commenced, as huge cheer occurred In the RV Park – it was so loud it even drowned out the Bose radio for a bit. We could also hear the echo of the cheers that went out all over Jackson. What an event!

Talk to you soon!