On this Friday the 13th, I awoke much earlier than usual. I wanted to see where the sun was between 8am and 9:30 am because we’re supposed to have an incredible view of the annular solar eclipse tomorrow morning. I rarely wake up that early because I work a couple nights a week and I’m kind of on an “evening schedule.” I no longer have to worry about waking up for the kids or any of that stuff. They’re adults now.
Anyway, when I looked out the window, I could see a bit of blue sky between the clouds. It’s been raining so much these past few days except yesterday when we had one nice day. I somehow gathered my energy with a few sips of Rock Star Zero Fruit Punch flavor (don’t judge me! Didn’t have time to make coffee) and a Luna protein bar, got dressed and out the door in just a few moments. Yay me!
I knew the sun rose in the east, which is the direction of our front door. I was surprised to see my boyfriend awake with the door open a little. That’s almost unheard of! He said he couldn’t sleep for some reason. As I trekked outside, both of us noticed that the sun began to peek through the trees in the east at approximately 8:20 a.m. That meant we could get a perfect view of the solar eclipse IF the clouds moved aside just a little. Partial sun is enough. To be sure that was our best view, I strode around the neighborhood trail circle all the way past the bridge up the street. I wanted to see if we could have a better view from the other side. So many tall trees surround us on all sides. Sure enough, in the sunny areas of the trail, I could see the sun. I didn’t look right at it, but yes. I trekked back to the house to see where the sun was closer to 9:00 a.m., the peak of the solar eclipse, and sure enough, we got an awesome view. All we have to do is walk outside to see it. I had planned to walk more since I was already awake anyway, but instead, I stepped back inside, just for a few moments, I told myself.
Guinness the Cat, my 17-year-old buddy, looked so comfy and curled up at the foot of my bed. I took off my jacket and lay down just for a few moments. The next thing I knew, I woke up with a start. The afternoon poured in from the window, and I found myself under the covers. Guinness the Cat still lay at the foot of the bed. What the heck? I looked at the time. 2:30 pm. WHAT??? That just cannot be. There’s so much to do before I leave for Corvallis at 5:30 p.m. for a ukulele jam. How did this happen? I usually don’t sleep like this for so long. How will I have time to search for those special glasses you need to look at the eclipse, go on another walk, and eat something before traveling to Corvallis? My boyfriend was out in the yard doing something. I wondered if he had slept at all.
It is now 5:00 pm and all I’ve done is get out of bed, make myself a protein shake with a banana and frozen blueberries, as well as coffee of course. For some reason, I have not done much else. Savoy went to his mom’s house and the rain returned. It originally wasn’t supposed to rain today, but the weather changes by the minute around here this time of year. Hopefully, we’ll see the eclipse. Oh yeah, those special glasses.
I wondered if any of my family or friends will watch the eclipse tomorrow morning, my kids and grandkids, their significant others and our friends. Will they have special glasses? I remembered the August 2017 full-on solar eclipse. I lived in Keizer, Oregon at the time and we had a 100% view from our backyard. In August, there’s a much better chance of clear skies in Oregon. My daughters traveled up from California along with my younger son. My childhood friend and his wife traveled all the way from San Diego for this major event along with other friends. We had a campout in my backyard and people slept on couches or in the spare bedroom of the house I rented at the time. It was so much fun. Everyone was there. Someone even slept in the garage! I loved it. I cherish family and/or friend gatherings — the more the merrier.
And yes, we had the full view and lots of pairs of special glasses so no one had to do without.