 |
| The view from my St. Albans, Vermont house during the total eclipse of the sun, April 8, 2024, |
I'm still in awe of what I saw, as lucky for me, the center of totality passed right over my St. Albans, Vermont home.
My husband Jeff and I parked ourselves in chairs on our back deck, with a perfect view to the southwest, where the sun was that day.
Vermont got really lucky on April 8, 2024. The weather is seldom nice in the Green Mountain State this time of year.
I mean, look at today. There's lots of clouds, it's colder than hell, and snow showers keep dusting the early spring landscape.
There had been an 80 percent chance that that eclipse day would be overcast, based on past weather records.
Instead, the weather was absolutely, improbably perfect on April 8, 2024. The day featured mild weather as temperatures reached the upper 50s to mid 60s. There were quite a few high, thin clouds in the sky, but that actually enhanced the experience. You could still clearly see the actual eclipse, as the moon blocked the sun and you could just see the outer edges of the sun during totality.
Those high clouds created a beautiful sunset effect during the eclipse, with the horizon lighting up in beautiful yellow, orange and blue tones.
The whole thing was thrilling. I laughed out loud with joy as I heard a crowd in downtown St. Albans, a mile away, let out a loud cheer when totality hit. Then I sat and watched the sky, slack-jawed, during totality. I didn't want it to end.
And as if to end the day with a flourish, hours later, we were treated to a spectacular, post-eclipse sunset.
Barely a month later, Vermont and much of the rest of the nation experienced one of the most spectacular northern lights displays in memory. Once again, Vermont skies were mostly clear, and we got to enjoy it.
It's been back to reality with more recent celestial events. There was a total lunar eclipse early in the morning of March 14. Skies were clear for that, but it peaked at like 2 a.m. I admire anyone who stayed up for that, but I was unfortunately too lazy. I slept through it. A bad hour for this decrepit old man.
There was a partial eclipse of the sun on the morning of March 29. Not nearly as wild as last year's total eclipse. But it would have been fun to dig out the solar glasses from last year and take a peek as the moon took a bite out of the early morning sun.
But alas, northern Vermont was experiencing a snowstorm that morning. So much for that.
Other than that, we have our usual meteor shower and super moons to look forward to in the rest of 2025, but not much else.
But that's OK. The sky is always interesting, even when supposedly nothing special is going on.
Sometimes, on a clear night, it's fun to just go outside after dark on, day a mild June night. The fireflies at the edge of the woods will compete with the tapestry of twinkling stars in the sky.
Or there's meteorological displays. On a muggy night in July, I might sit in our outdoor tub on the deck, glass of wine in hand, Patsy Cline singing in the background as heat lightning lazily flashes in the sky from thunderstorms somewhere over Quebec.
The year 2025 will end with three "super moons" starting in October. That's when the moon is closer to Earth than it usually is, so the full moon looks even bigger and brighter than usual. It'll be worth grabbing a jacket or coat on those nights if it's clear to enjoy the moon glow, maybe do a little moon dance, I don't know.
Maybe the December 4 super moon rise over a snow covered landscape, turning night into day as the moon glow reflects off the snow.
I'll probably never see another total eclipse of the sun, but I've got the memory. I can look forward to our always fascinating sky and weather to keep me looking up to the heavens in search of both peace and joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment