The Odyssey: The Dark of the Sun

The Dark of the Sun

We went to South Carolina to see the 2017 solar eclipse along with Jennifer, Mark and Elora; Jennifer drove, Allen navigated. Clemson University was having an eclipse special with music, astronomy lectures and free eclipse glasses. Thousands of people were there in the bright sun, 95-degree heat and high humidity - It's summer in the South; what did you expect?

If the Clemson campus was not the ideal location in which to see the first coast-to-coast solar eclipse in a hundred years, it was near to it - We had about 2 minutes, 37 seconds of totality, nearly the maximum of 2 min. 40 sec.

See the Clemson experience here.

We staked out a place on the lawn where Mark set up his telescope. In the photo above, you can see Mark projecting a partial eclipse on a white panel.

Special glasses (above) were needed to see the partial eclipse (below)...

Partial eclipse

...but one could observe totality with the naked eye without fear of optic damage.

Numerous astronomers advised that one should not spend time taking photographs of the eclipse as professional photographers would take better photos and one could obtain them.

I disagree. My photos of the eclipse (above & below) may not be as good as those taken by a professional, but they are mine. I took the partial eclipse photo with my cell phone by putting my eclipse glasses over the lens. The total eclipse photo was taken with my digital camera.

Total eclipse

Allen, Mark and Elora are totally engrossed

Jen & Elora Make the Official Clemson Photo Gallery

Allen was in Visitors from around the world reflect on ‘Eclipse Over Clemson’

Georgia 'Safari'

After the eclipse, we drove further south to visit family in Georgia. They led us on a 'safari' through the back of their property and across the pasture to visit with their animals.

The Great New York State Fair

After Georgia, we drove to Syracuse to visit more family and saw

The Great New York State Fair.

The New York State fairgrounds were extensively upgraded over the past year, I was told. Our day there saw a record attendance of 123,206. The weather was a comfortable sunny 75 with low humidity.

Rides

Food

A variety of prize-winning animals...

...and the famous butter sculpture.

For a while after lunch, while the children went to go on the rides, Sarah and I hung out at a picnic table with an umbrella. A series of people asked if they could sit at our table to eat their food; we engaged them in conversation - something that they probably did not expect. Among others, we spoke with a state trooper, a prison teacher, a former prisoner, a fireman and a psychologist.

We also chatted with people maintaining booths. Many NYS agencies were there, some that I never heard of; they do good things.