I Do Not Like Mondays

We decided to make a bit of a trek to Syracuse, New York to get to the path of totality of the 2024 North American Solar Eclipse on April 8. Syracuse was just within that path, and you only got about a minute and a half of the totality there — so if you were looking to get any photos or video of it, you had to move quickly.

I’d heard that there wouldn’t be another total solar eclipse in North America for another 20 years, and that there wouldn’t be another in New York state (where I’m from) until 2079. So we did what we could to prep for this one yesterday, including purchasing eclipse-viewing glasses and a special solar filter for photographing the sun.

But I almost abandoned ship altogether. The day started out with fairly clear skies, but it got cloudier and cloudier as the eclipse drew near. We had decided to make a family outing of the whole thing and went to a zoo in Syracuse so we could do something other than just perch ourselves and wait for the eclipse to happen.

It was nearly fully cloudy, and dark clouded at that, by the time the eclipse began at 2:08 p.m. I kept hoping there might be a break in the clouds coming that would make for a clear view, if only for a few seconds, but it didn’t seem to be happening.

I resigned myself to not getting any eclipse photos, and instead settled on maybe hanging out at the zoo during the totality to see if there were any eerie photos to be had when the sun went dark. I’d also heard that some animals behave strangely during an eclipse, so a zoo might be an interesting place to just experience it, I thought.

Still, when the totality drew near around 3 p.m., I decided to go quickly set up my gear and try to get whatever photos I could. I mean, maybe there’d be that one moment or two where the clouds would blow over and allow for some kind of view, right? It was worth a shot, anyway… we’d come all that way.

In the end, there were indeed some views of the eclipse that snuck through, though veiled somewhat by clouds, and people erupted into cheers whenever that happened. I blasted away some shots and got at least something to take home. The totality occurred in that spot at 3:23 p.m.

After it was over, we all agreed the sky didn’t get as dark as we’d expected — it’s not like things turned to total nighttime. And it was near impossible to see anything with the thick, dark film eclipse glasses on. We didn’t know it then, but we were to battle out way home for much of the trip back, since there was a good deal of traffic and many came from surrounding areas to see the eclipse.

But it was something to experience, and perhaps one young woman from New Jersey who I overheard put it best. Right after the totality had occurred and many people were heading for their cars to go back home (we certainly weren’t the only ones there who were trying to see the eclipse at that zoo), the woman said to another man, “Wow, that was cool! I’m so glad I came to see this.”

Sometimes in life, even if the outcome is uncertain and unguaranteed, you’ve still got the make the effort and try for it!

Content © Aaron G. Marsh

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