Hey, it's getting darker....
Yes, as L'il Orphan Annie sang, "The sun'll come out tomorrow," after the stunning and awesome 2017 eclipse in Charleston, S.C.
I had planned it pretty good.
Slipping on my approved solar glasses, I had checked where the sun was in the sky several days at 2 pm when I stood on my deck in Hanahan.
It looked like I could be seated comfortably and track it easily as the sun was gobbled up by the moon and arced across the sky.
The total black out would happen before the sun dipped behind trees, so I was good to go!
Unfortunately, those pesky clouds rolled in about two minutes before the eclipse reached totality.
Sadly, I stepped inside and watched the "money shot" scene on tv. Bummer!
It could be seen happening about 12 miles away on our barrier islands of Mount Pleasant and the Isle of Palms.
Coastal breezes that we usually love had blown all the clouds my way!
Until the sun was blanked out, I had enjoyed watching the crescent sun that gradually mimicked the moon on our state flag before the rains came.
I went back out on my deck, taking off the safety glasses.
The sudden and complete brief 2-minute afternoon darkness was awesome!
It got quiet - no birds chirping - and all of my solar-powered yard and deck lights came on.
My confused indoor cat ambled off to take yet another brief nap.
Several members of my Photo Group* were in the right places nearby and posted some really nice photos, (thanks, Rudy Lutge) including this great "Diamond Ring" one by Brian Smith.
I had planned to relax and just enjoy the experience and not even bother taking photos for a change.
I saw my neighbor and family in their back yard, sitting in chairs and looking up and, later holding altered cereal boxes to get a pinhole camera effect.
Member of the 21st Century Photo Group, Joseph Nienstedt, was able to shoot through a thin layer of clouds
He caught this crisp shot as the sun started peeking out around the shadowing moon.
This was when I would have put my solar glasses back on if I had had that great view.
I think I scared some folks the day before when I posted a picture of my real solar dark glasses and a pair of some old 3-D glasses I found in a drawer.
There was concern that I was dumb enough to damage my eyes wearing the wrong pair.
I knew that National Geographic - and the NASA people in town - would produce better images than I could hope to with my small pocket-size Canon sx280HS.
Hmm, but it does have a 25mm - 500mm zoom lens.
Fortunately, my group members really came through.
I was disappointed to have missed the several minutes of the awesome totality.
Our tv weather persons were very apologetic about the cloud cover that wiped out views in Summerville, Ladson, North Charleston, Hanahan, and others.
NBC's Al Roker, was aboard the USS Yorktown over at Patriot's Point in Mt. Pleasant.
Al gave his morning report on the Today Show and stuck around to see the eclipse from the last view spot in the United States in South Carolina.
He and all the people who chose to drive to the beaches made good choices and saw the heavenly display.
(Click on the photos and links for more details.)
Hopefully, you were in a clear sky spot and enjoyed the total experience.
2024 I'll get another chance. Think I'll head to the beach.
Labels: "diamond ring" solar effect, 2017 solar Eclipse, Al Roker, Brian Smith, Joseph Neinstedt, Mt. Pleasure, NBC Today Show, Rudy Lutge, Totality, USS Yorktown
"Kids do the darndest things..."
Well, I guess it's my fault.
I DID tell my grandson Aiden that kids were allowed to wade in the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park downtown.
And, he did see others splashing and having watery fun.
At first, he heeded his mom's suggestion that he hold up his shorts so they would not get wet.
This was Day 3 of a 5-day visit by my daughter, who had driven from Sand Springs, Oklahoma, to visit me, relax and take in some of the sights.
We had been out to Sullivan's Island the day before and cruising over to the Isle of Palms, he got to see an ocean for the first time.
Living in a land-locked suburb of Tulsa, he could relate to lakes and rivers, but this was his first ocean.
I assured him it was big and he was seeing only the top.
Also probably the first time he had stepped into a fountain that had a sign:
"NO LIFEGUARD.
It was a warm day, the end of April, and many other children had already been told they could be on the steps around the fountain.
This was the first time I had been here with a 5-year-old and I wisely stepped back and let his mom decide if Aiden could join the others.
Things were going swell until he spotted a boy in the deeper spot, beneath the fountain overhang, who was wearing swim goggles.
Maybe that sight caused him to miss a step and trip off the step he was on and submerge into the chilly water.
My grandson resignedly stepped out and dripped his way to his grandpop and mom who realized we did not have a change of dry clothes!
Poor planning.
A kid + a fountain + permission to wade should have made us more alert to the next logical step - or misstep - and have at least a towel.
But, as we found the day before at the beach, the sun was shining, clothes dry out and the fun continues.
One of the nearby oversize swings was a pleasant way to let the wind dry you as the tallest member of the trio used his long legs to push the swing higher and higher.
Grandson spotted the sign that said to be polite and limit your swing time to 20 minutes.
He asked me to tell him when the time was up.
We passed by "the other" fountain at Waterfront Park but he seemed less eager to get soaked and just passed his hands in front of one of the streams.
As he dried, we continued out onto the pier and I showed where the weekly cruise ship docked.
Then I spotted a red flag flapping in the breeze and suggested we take a Water Taxi round trip over the harbor with several stops along the way.
All agreed and we watched as a Taxi cruised by and then returned from the Maritime Center and headed to us standing at its berth on the pier.
L'il Man was excited to get on board and found us a seat...in the sun.
No problem as others boarded and we cast off. A few turns and we were now seated in the shade of the big overhead awning.
This was not a narrated tour - a basic maritime boat ride from Point A to Point B - but we scooted across the harbor to the Mt. Pleasant side.
I was able to share a tip on how to avoid getting seasick as we bounced along.
Aiden had ducked his head down onto his mom's lap and I suggested he sit up and keep an eye on the horizon.
Then I explained that the line between the water and the sky was called the horizon. He's a smart home-schooled youngster and digested that new fact.
He did sit up and the breeze in his face helped too. No sickness problem.
Soon we were looking up at the stern of the USS Yorktown. ...and two small sailing ships anchored in the marina.
I had seen an article in the paper that these were replicas of Christopher Columbus' Nina and the Pinta and were on public display.
It was a moody scene so I printed them in black and white instead of in color. I knew they were modeled after an Italian Caravel but I hope these were not actual size! They looked so small for such an extended exploration.
(Click on the links and the photos for more details.)
Thanks for spending some time with me and my family down by the famed Charleston Harbor.
I'll add some more, including a place where the drinks
"are on the house."
Well, there's real money stapled all over the dive bar called
The GriffonLabels: Dive bar, drinks on the house, Harbor Resort Marina, his first ocean, Italian Caravel, Maritime Center, No Lifeguard, over-size swings, The Griffon, the Nina & the Pinta, USS Yorktown, water taxi
Oops. Too curious....
As we know, the camera does not lie.
Well, it can be fooled.
And images manipulated.
We don't live in a
"George Washington-sorry-about-the-cherry-tree
world."
My photo group enjoyed a Patriot's Point
Photo Walk Saturday. What a beautiful day.
We covered the
USS Yorktown from stem to stern, from fore to aft, from the bilges up to the bridge, from port to starboard.
A group of photographers will always look for
"something different."After member Kevin Harp pulled his head out of the jet, he sat and calmly noted that the ship appeared to be listing.
Badly.
Both of these are created illusions.
Things are not as they seem.
Thank goodness!
(Click on pictures for detail. I've actually landed aboard a carrier, the
USS Oriskany. Not when I was in the Marines but as a press photographer for the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. Sure looked tiny from the air! Ahoy! Thanks for coming aboard.)
Labels: bulkheads not walls, jet intake, Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum, portholes not round windows, USS Oriskany, USS Yorktown
