Solar Eclipse/Melva's Birthday

Today was the day of the big solar eclipse we've been hearing about for several weeks now. Here in Maine, several towns were said to lie directly in the Path of Totality, meaning the sun would be 100% covered by the moon passing in front of it. But those towns were hours away from where I live, and here in Freeport we would experience 97% coverage. That seemed like it would be good enough for me.

It wasn't. 

I went outside, waiting for darkness to fall. 

It didn't. 

I looked through my certified eclipse glasses (see photo) and saw the sun getting covered by the moon, but when I took the glasses off and looked around, everything looked normal. The birds did not start chirping and flapping their wings. The chipmunks and squirrels did not get weird. The air did not get cooler, nor did the wind pick up. My cat, lying in the sun, noticed nothing and seemingly could not care less. In my opinion, hurricanes are much more exciting. So if you missed it don't feel bad, because you didn't miss much. 

Elsewhere, my husband and son reported that the total darkness they experienced, suddenly and in the middle of the day, was "awesome" and "pretty cool," eliciting cheers from the assembled throngs. So I went into a closet for a minute to see how it must have felt. It was just okay. 

A much bigger deal is that today is my friend Melva's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mel!