There goes the sun

PC families

both travel,

stay home

for eclipse

By Burton Cole

Kenzi Zmyslo of Alexandria and family traveled to Connersville, Ind., to put themselves in the pathway of last week’s total solar eclipse.

“Definitely worth the drive,” she said. “It was surreal experience. Bats came out, and my uncle’s tulips closed up.”

Patricia Romeo of Falmouth said that she and family stayed home to watch the eclipse from their farm on Liberty Ridge. Falmouth was just outside the zone of totality but still the sun was 98.4 percent blocked by the moon passing in front of it.

“We had a wonderful experience watching the eclipse,” Romeo said.

“We have free range chickens and noticed that they hovered around the coop, but only the rooster went in to roost. He was very unhappy that the hens stayed out,” she said. “The wild turkeys all went into the trees to roost and made a lot of noise.”

Some Pendleton County residents traveled for a better view of the first total solar eclipse since Aug. 21, 2017. Others watched from home on April 8. Whichever way they chose, many pairs of eyes were focused upward — while wearing nearly opaque solar glasses or peering through cardboard box pinholes — around 3 p.m. a week ago Monday to witness a phenomenon that won’t be seen again in the United States until Aug. 12, 2045.

“Major science-loving kid” Shiloh Williams, 11, of Falmouth, traveled with his mother, Gina Gilbert, and grandmother to Versailles, Ind., to be in the path of the total eclipse of the sun.

“It was amazing, to say the least,” Shiloh said. “Everything went dark in the middle of it.”

The Northern Elementary School fifth-grader from Falmouth said that before and after totality, he watched the eclipse through dark glasses provided by the Pendleton County Public Library. During totality, when it was safe, he took off the glasses, he said.

He also acted as an observer for NASA’s Eclipse Soundscapes project, which had everyday citizens submitting what they observed in the sky and in plant and animal life during the eclipse.

“There was one little dog there that seemed confused,” Shiloh said.

Jen Short of BlackSheep Farmstead in Falmouth said, “We watched the solar eclipse from our farm on 159, surrounded by our animals (that didn’t even seem to notice!). The temperature dropped a little and there was almost that ‘green’ haze right before a big storm.”

Kira MacNeil of Butler said, “My family and I traveled to Wapakoneta, Ohio, for our first solar eclipse in totality and we were not disappointed. I am a hobby photographer so I was lucky to capture a few shots of the amazing event but I have still yet to find the words for a scene that took my breath away. It was absolutely beautiful.”

She, husband Jay, and their sons Logan and Ronin were among a crowd that also visited the Armstrong Air and Space Museum as part of the solar experience.

Afterward, Kira wrote a piece for her Gugel Alley Writers group out of Roebling Books in Newport, which read, in part: “I didn’t expect a giant picnic of sky watchers from as far as Hawaii and Florida all brought together chasing the eclipse. The gathering of gazers with intricate equipment to view and photograph the very thing shining down on us every day.

“The kindness, kids rolling down grassy hills playing together, strangers excited to let others peer into their sun-filtered telescopes to see sunspots and solar flares.

“But most of all I didn’t expect a black sun hanging in the sky surrounded by a circle of light as day became night, and stars to appear so clear.  The shadow of the moon cast over as the crowd plunged into dusky darkness. Emotion welled up as the totality of the situation struck me, all of us gathered together looking up in wonder at the sci-fi sky, the amazement of my children and their squeals of delight as they danced in the moon’s shadow, the beauty of nature amplified for a mere 3 minutes and 56 seconds.

“It was not long enough."

Brian Gregg of Butler said, “My daughter, Briana Gregg, and I went to Devou Park in Covington, Kentucky, to view the eclipse. Raising Canes provided everyone with glasses.

“It was one of the most impressive things we have experienced with nature. We were also able to see the planet Venus for about a minute,” Gregg said.

George Lonaker, 79, of Falmouth, enjoyed the celestial show from his spacious yard on Liberty Street.

He reported being excited because it believed it likely would be the last solar eclipse he’d see in his lifetime.

Pendleton County Public Library programming assistant and science enthusiast Hannah Pearson, husband Joe, and three kids, of McKinneysburg, south of Falmouth, headed toward Connersville, Ind., to watch the total eclipse.

“I’d been waiting for almost a year,” her son Samuel, 8, a Southern Elementary School student, said afterward.

“I got excited and wanted to run around! I heard nothing — no birds. There was a horse nearby, but it didn’t do anything.”

A.J. Pearson, 15, said, “I had heard that totality would be really cool — Mom wouldn’t stop talking about it — and I probably won’t get to see anything like that again.

“Colors looked different as the time of totality got close.

“The whole experience made me feel calm and relaxed.”

C.O. Pearson, 19, wore 2017 vintage solar glasses from Lunt Optical. “Mom saved them — she really has been waiting that long for this,” C.O. said.

“I noticed most that the light was weird and it got cooler,” he said. “It was everything I hoped for.”

The family watched the total solar eclipse from a public park where many other observers had also pulled into.

“The place is special to us because my late father and my mom would take the boys to this park for a driving break on the way to and from summer visits to their farm in Indiana. It’s a beautiful green space and people had room to spread out,” Pearson said.

“Those last few seconds when the sun got covered up, then darkness fell and then the temperature fell, then I heard a voice call out, ‘There it goes.’ I think we all felt the same way.”

The total eclipse last three minutes and 45 seconds, Pearson said.

“I couldn’t quite keep the tears from coming. I was profoundly moved and it was like my dad and God had given us these perfect few moments,” she said.

“We got 1,000 percent blessed.”