Not Total Eclipse of the Sun

Remember 6ish years ago when we trekked to South Carolina to be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse of 2017?   That experience was kind of amazing and I've been so obsessed with the recreating that experience, that I already have plane tickets and a hotel room reserved for Austin, Texas for the full solar eclipse of April 2024. 

But somehow, even with that obsession going on,  we missed the memo that we had an annular solar eclipse right here in Utah on October 14th.  

We had too much going on (a long story I'll share soon enough) to drive the mere couple of hours to the path of totality, but we donned our eclipse glasses (which I'd also bought for April 2024) and took our normal Saturday morning walk with regular stops to check the progress of the eclipse. 

Annular means it was a "ring of fire" eclipse and it was only 80ish% here at home, but it was still enough to get the cool eclipse shadows and for it to feel dark and cold as peak time approached.  

We trekked to the local park and I literally asked anyone who passed us if they wanted to peek through my glasses.  I think more than a few people thought I was nerdy and weird, but pretty much everyone peeked anyway, so I kept embracing the nerdiness.   I also woke Spencer up and pretty much demanded that he grab some of our glasses and head outside.  Spencer definitely thought I was being obnoxious, which I probably was.  But he saw it and I felt like I did my Mom duty, so I'm calling it a win.   

All in all, a cool experience that made me extra excited for April!     Wanna meet us Austin?   Give me a ring and let's make it happen!