Needless to say, we’ve caught eclipse fever here in Nashville. This will be a short piece because Bob and I have to Lyft or Uber our way out to an art museum in a mansion that is also a botanical garden for an eclipse viewing party very soon. There will be music and food trucks of course, but even better they supply those precious eclipse glasses when day turns into night. Since we didn’t know if we could get tickets, pilot Bob had an emergency back-up plan – he made two pinhole cameras out of cardboard boxes!
The Love Bug has her first full day of Kindergarten, although many schools are closed. Her teacher has eclipse glasses for the class and a parent who worked at NASA will be giving them a pint-sized lecture. The rest of the Bride and Groom’s family will be heading over to a friend’s viewing party. Today is unofficially a three-day weekend in the Music City; the last time we experienced this celestial event was in 1979.
Our neighborhood is awash with tourists. Bob and Ms Bean met a couple from Wales on their morning walk, the man was wearing a tee that said “Eclipseville!” Our Sister-in-Law almost flew in but couldn’t get a flight, and an Atlanta friend’s newly married son and his bride may catch up with us later today. Traffic is considerably worse than usual, but I can assure you that the sun is shining now and our almost two minutes of “Totality” – which is the only time you can actually look up at the eclipse with your naked eyes – should be spectacular.
If you’re lucky enough to have viewing glasses, here are some tips for using them:
- Stand still and cover your eyes with your eclipse glasses or solar viewer before looking up at the bright sun
- After glancing at the sun turn away and remove your filter. Do not remove the filter while still looking at the sun.
- When using the solar filters it is best to briefly look at the sun through the filter and then look away
- Don’t look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device.
- A total solar eclipse is about as bright as the full moon and just as safe to look at
- Any other time is dangerously bright—view only through special filtered glasses
- Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun
Happy Eclipse Day Everyone, wherever you are!
MountainMornings 