These aren't 3D movie glasses

How cool was that?

The last time I can recall being in an eclipse, I was in Gr 4.  And at grade school and not allowed to go outside and the window curtains were all drawn closed.  And these were those heavy vinyl curtains.  You could shoot a puck at it.

In any case, I didn't see anything back then.

Fast forward to April 8, 2024.  And for the month leading up to the eclipse, there was news of 1M+ visitors making their way to Niagara Falls region, to experience the eclipse and Falls at the same time!  Along with that was news of sky high room fees during this once in a many decades global event.

Legit!

The eclipse was to start shortly after 2pm local time and last for just shy of 2.5hrs.

I wasn't sure what to expect.  I wasn't sure whether the protective glasses from Amazon were legit.  
They looked like 3D movie glasses, but once I got them in my hands, these were much much darker.  You couldn't see anything unless you were looking up at the sun.  

Watching the morning weather, I wasn't sure if I would see anything again this time around either, as they were forecasting cloud coverage for the duration of the afternoon and wouldn't clear until well after the eclipse.  I thought .. Oh well that was a waste of money for the glasses.

TO - 2:20PM

But determined to not let this opportunity slip by, I went outside at a few mins past 2pm local Toronto ON, time to see if the clouds would clear and I could see anything.

And somehow it did.  It was super nice out.  

And as I tried the glasses on, and could see the amazing image of the moon taking a small bite out of the sun.  The moon was starting to nibble at the bottom of the sun.  I was amazed and fortunate to witness this in real time.

Totality - Montreal

T had called me just as it was starting.  I told her to hurry home.  But clouds rolled in and blocked out the sun, and was noticeably chilly about 30mins after the eclipse started.  I was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see what I just saw.

I took my first photo at 2:20pm ET. I thought that was as much as we'd get to see as clouds came rolling in.  And felt lucky to get that shot.

But as totality approached at 3:20pm ET, we noticed how dark it got.  Even the street lamps came on.  

Totality - Brantford

And as the moon began to make exit from blocking the sun.  The clouds began to dissipate, we were amazed at how quickly it warmed up, and we could now see the sliver of the sun behind the moon. 

It was an incredible sight to see.  We called our neighbour out so she wouldn't miss out.

Photos came in on the chat of the total eclipse and it was crazy to see.  I was wow'd and grateful for the real time sharing of photos of the event.

We were glued to the phone to see what pics were coming in from all over the region.

TO - 3:32PM

I took some photos with my phone using the glasses as a filter.   It wasn't so easy as the camera would focus on the filter surface.  But somehow it turned out.  The ones that appear more reddish are using the glasses.

The ones that have more grey and brighter, were filter free, as the clouds provided sufficient shielding.  

As more of the sun appeared from behind the moon, a filter was needed again.

TO - 4PM

Friends and family were all sharing photos from their locations, it was a so cool to have so many people chattering and sharing in this event in real time.

We were showing couriers, dog walkers, neighbours that came by the photos.

It's amazing how a cosmological event can bring so many people together.  What a magical 99.7% day.

Even Kevin was out on the driveway to witness the eclipse.