https://stfudamnit.com/ryan/eclipse.mp4
Not the best video and doesn’t do it justice.
I traveled to the zone of totality with my mom and will do a quick recap of my experience.
While driving there it looked totally normal and then we parked. I wasn’t aware that there was any action. But I put on the glasses and looked at the sun and it had already started. About 15% of the sun was covered by the moon. Again, to the naked eye it looked just like normal.
This continued for about a hour where the sun looked normal without the glasses but with them on you could see more and more being covered.
While looking normal to the naked eye there was a sudden temperature drop. There was just a tiny sliver of the sun visible with glasses. It was very odd. I went from being hot in a t-shirt to needing a sweatshirt in just a few minutes. And it felt like the humidity jumped way up.
This is when the birds freaked the fuck out. We were basically on open fields but there was a lot of trees too. It went from no birds to thousands of them randomly flying around. It was almost scary.
Then the sky starts dimming and it pretty much turns to night in a matter of seconds. At this point you don’t need the glasses. There is just a big black disk covering the sun and you can see a glow around the disk. With the glasses on you actually see nothing.
Then just as fast a tiny sliver of sun pokes out and it is back to daylight.
And yeah. There is a massive difference between 99.38% coverage and 100%. From what people that stayed in Eugene said they didn’t even notice it without glasses. But we went 30 miles north and got one hell of a show.
Mad props to Luckyguy for kicking me in the ass to make the trip. It was well worth it.