3:15 AM, New Orleans
Of course this is a terrible photo, but it proves I was there. I caught some zzz, then got up at 1:45AM. The total eclipse was in full effect. A half dozen people were hanging out in the street in front of Banks Street Bar, gazing upward. I went around the way to Michael’s house, and we raised a toast together, a cocktail of my own invention, brandy and rye whiskey and pecan liqueur and bitters. I called it a “Brown Moon Rising.”
When I got back home I roused Persephone to take a look at the eclipse out her bathroom window. I’d explained the concept earlier, but now she was understandably groggy. I’m not sure she even really remembered the next morning. Fortunately she went back to sleep easily.
I was not so lucky. After lying in bed for a while, I got back up to eat a bowl of cereal and read and check out the moon again.
From a visual standpoint, I found the partial eclipse much more interesting than the total. The total eclipse was just a funky-looking moon, but watching the shadow of the earth sliding across the surface of the moon? That’s drama.
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Fully expecting to be the only person in my building braving 22-degree temperatures at 2:15 a.m. EST, I was happy to find a small crowd clustered outside the lobby, passing around a pair of binoculars.
Totality came at 3:17. Like you, we all felt that the lead-up had been the best part of the event. (It certainly was the prettiest. The burnt-orange moon was gorgeous.)
Would love to see a total solar eclipse.