On Monday, August 21, 2017 there was a solar eclipse which, in some locations along a path across the US.  Where I live, the eclipse was at approximately 60.4%.  A neighbor across the street and I had talked about this a week or two ago, and decided we would repeat an experiment that we had done the last time there was a partial solar eclipse.

Before I show any photographs, a word about the quality.  Our viewing screen was a sheet hung from the top of the garage door across the street from mine.  The projectors (we had two) were mirrors — one a compact-sized mirror, and the other about 12 inches in diameter.  The result of this arrangement was far from perfect, but gave a good idea of the crescent of the eclipsed sun.  The larger mirror didn’t work as well as the smaller one, perhaps because of a beveled edge.  The sheet was pretty tight as it hung, but there was a zephyr of breeze that also affected the photos.  And in editing the photos, the computer looks for something that could be sky and makes it sky-blue, then filling other colors as them make sense to the computer., thus a blue sky created from a white sheet!

Our projectors were set up as the eclipse began.

And the system was checked out and the aim adjusted — we had to continue adjusting the mirrors as the sun moved through the sky.

The following are a selection of images projected onto the “screen” over the 2-1/2 hours of the eclipse — even the landscapers got into the spirit!

The seeming “double exposure” was probably generated by the thickness of the mirror — we noticed it in many of the photos.

We wondered whether the texture of the sheet made a difference to the quality of the pictures — the best way to tell was to hold up a piece of cardboard.

It didn’t seem to make much difference!

Along the way, we noticed that the light became dimmer than normal (as if there were clouds or a smoke cloud in front of the sun), it became much quieter, the birds stopped flying and chirping (and the crows stopped squawking!).  A few people walked by us with their dogs — two stopped to watch with us, and some simply walked along, glancing to see what we were doing.  It was an unusual, but most effective, way to watch the eclipse.  The next one with totality that will be visible from the US will be in 2024 — I hope I’ll be around to watch that one!

First, more hydrangeas.  These flowers are just coming towards full bloom — they will be bright blue by the end of the week.  I think they are just as pretty now, and wanted to post these photos while I have time to do it.

Time is moving VERY fast for me these days.  In the next couple of months, I must move out of half my home so the HOA can complete a re-piping project, have two eye surgeries (cataracts), visit my sister in Santa Barbara for her 75th birthday, and I have two other medical appointments that are follow-ups from last spring!  If I seem absent of short along the way, please excuse me — it will be a tough time to get through!  Once this siege is over, life should settle back down to a dull roar, and I’ll be able to try out my new eyes and play with the camera more again.

The past month has been a little busier than usual, with lots of things happening.  First, the “Whittier Fire”  west of Santa Barbara is still 87% contained, with the remaining 13% along a rocky steep ridge that the firefighters can’t get to.  There were Sundowner Winds predicted for last evening, but they apparently did not materialize — if they had, the fire would have burned much farther down the hill towards the ocean.

The last time I photographed the hydrangeas along my front walk, I believe there were two flowers in bloom, and a bunch of buds.  Those have all bloomed, and I took the following photos a few days ago, just before I cut off the dead-heads.

There are a few more buds, and the 2 flowers that still have color were spared for now.  It has been close to 100 degrees today, and will continue this hot for a few days, so I  don’t have great hopes for more flowers — but stay tuned!

Today has been very hot and humid — there have been lightning strikes in the area, which is quite unusual for this area.  They even had to evacuate 8 miles of beach at Huntington Beach this afternoon, along with a surfing contest, due to the lightning.  At one pint, I walked outside my front door and shot the next 3 photos — on the other side of the house, the sky was blue!

During the month I had visits from three good friends.  A Xanga friend (Trish Ambrose) who used to live in Pennsylvania and now in Oregon was in town with her husband for a conference — they called and asked if I had time to see them — we had a delightful dinner on the edge of the Marina at Dana Point Harbor.  And a colleague who moved from here to South Carolina about 10 years ago was in San Diego for a national financial aid conference, followed by a weekend visit with relatives.  She stopped off along the way for dinner as she traveled between San Diego and LA.

In the midst of all this, it was the time of the year when I have all my annual doctor’s appointments within the month.  I am fine — all tests came back normal except one which will be redone in 3 months — but that takes a lot of time that I would rather use for fun things.  I will try to post a little more frequently from now on.