Did you have that 80’s (I think) song running through your head last night?

I remember when I was in fifth grade, Mr. Greenberg’s class, and we were going to have a solar eclipse.  I was so into space and astronomy at the time.  I had read about for the weeks leading up to the event. The teachers and newspapers had warned about looking directly into the eclipse, assuring us all that to do so would cause instantaneous blindness.  Oh how paranoid I was!  What if I looked at it by accident?

So, I had made my own solar eclipse viewing thing, which if I recall correctly was a cardboard box with another piece of cardboard with a pinhole in.  There may have been tinfoil involved?  I can’t recall that part.  What I remember with absolute clarity is that it was cloudy and raining that day.  Not even a hint of sun in the sky.   And I remember my overwhelming disappointment.

Last night, the kids were very excited about the prospect of seeing the lunar eclipse.   We had a great view of it from inside our house, something we discovered after we went out onto our front lawn to locate the moon, and promptly froze.   Apparently the brightly shining ball of light radiating into our family room window was not enough of a clue.

The kids all thought that it was very cool, although we all wished we lived somewhere with less trees.  All those pesky trees in the way of our moon viewing!

We tried in vain to take photos.  In the end deciding that we should just enjoy the moment and not try capturing it.   Which is probably good advice for many events.  Though I did vow to read the manual that came with my camera so I can work it on something other than automatic.

So what about everyone else, did you get to see the eclipse?