You know, that bright thing in the sky. Let’s just turn it off for a few minutes.
While we’re not getting a total eclipse around here today, it should still be pretty interesting. Although there is care and caution that should be exercised during the actual event.
It can get a little confusing, so I will encourage you to look things up for yourself, rather than just give a list. You probably know many of them. An eclipse box, or pinhole camera, is probably best. The eclipse glasses may or may not be okay. Apparently, even the ones that say “NASA approved” may not be all they are cracked up to be. Using cameras and other viewing devices is not recommended unless you have them fitted with proper solar filters. There are a lot of details connected. Be sure to check them out.
But it certainly is worth observing, even if you do it through your television or computer. I do recommend being outside, or at least where you can hear the outside clearly. That was the one thing that really stands out from the eclipse of 1970.
If I remember, 1972 was fairly cloudy. Not so much for 197o. The thing that really stood out were the birds. They got pretty excited. Birds can get pretty excited at sundown any evening. But a sudden, rather quick, turning off of the sun can really make them get quite vocal.
There are quite a few stories that have appeared through history about eclipses. In Norse legends, I believe they blamed Loki (not the Marvel version) for creating a giant wolf that ate the sun. Some tribes were known to shoot flaming arrows into the sky to give the sun a jump start. And I believe it was the Choctaw who had a story that the sun was being eaten by a giant black squirrel, so they would go out and yell at it to get it away from the sun.
I couldn’t find a picture of a squirrel, but I did find a chipmunk. He really has nothing to do with the eclipse, but I like chipmunks so I used his picture.
But enjoy the eclipse. It doesn’t happen often. And it is very interesting.