Monday, August 21, 2017

Solar Eclipse and Other Strange Phenomenon


Hello, Dear Friends, did you witness the solar eclipse? 

We had a partial eclipse, here in Washington State, 
but I didn't dare look, as I had no special glasses, 
so I watched it on television. 

This is how it looked at totality in Lincoln City, Oregon.
(photo taken from my t.v.)

I think if I were younger and more adventurous, 
I would have camped out on the beach there and 
witnessed it first-hand, but hey, I am not so young, 
and I have too many pets and, well -  excuses, excuses! :)

When I was younger, we used to take the kiddos 
camping in Lincoln City, Oregon. We have fond 
memories of freezing to death at night in our tents
and seeing a dozen eagle's nests along a bluff, 
and feeding the spotted seals that came up along
the boardwalks. Oh, and the shops and restaurants
and amazing kites.......


So I stayed home and watched the skies dim with 
eerie shadows and everything was so quiet
I could hear the electricity in the air. 

One strange phenomenon that I noticed was 
crescent shaped shadows. 

Here you can see the crescents on the casing of the window
above my paper roses. 


It was the strangest thing......

I went outside to see if there were more. 


And there were! 
On the top of my canopy. 


I had never seen anything like it. 


Here you can clearly see the crescent shapes. 


The light had a distinct silver cast and looked
so pretty through the forest behind my home. 


It was like bright moonlight. 

Here it shines on my caged angel. 


You can see the shadow had distinct wavy lines. 


Silver light on the face of my fairy. 


I even had my own mini-eclipse on the kitchen floor.....


from the lamp in the skylight! 


This only happens at certain times of the year. 


Once the eclipse was over, the temperature, which 
had dropped significantly, began to rise once again, 
and I got on with my day......
Doggy Spa Day! 

You can see Kai after his bath, tied to the rail. 
If I don't tie him until he dries, he races back and forth 
like a wild banshee, rolling and shaking. 


Whitey Bear is always reluctant at first, 
but thoroughly enjoys his soaks in the warm tub. 


My little house-guest, Charlie, was first in the tub. 
His human Mom will be coming to take him 
home soon, and he wanted to be
 nice and clean for the happy reunion!
xx



Bath time is exhausting, so we all rested in the 
warm summer sun while we dried off. 


 It wasn't long before we had a 'visitor'. 


A one-person, open cockpit aircraft flying low
over the tree tops. 


When it approached the high-tension electrical 
lines that run through the forest valley, 
I grew quite concerned, but he went right under them! 

You can see how dangerous this little maneuver was! 


Then up it soared over the foothills.......


And it was gone. 

Every once in a while we get small planes through our little 
valley, and sometimes helicopters, but this type of 
aircraft is very rare. 

Once, when George W. Bush was in our state 
visiting Fort Lewis Military Base,
(not too far from here as the crow flies) 
an F-15 fighter jet flew down through 
this little river valley between our mountain 
and the next, at very high speed. 

Maybe the president was on board - I don't know, 
but this was something that has only happened once
in all the 36 years we have lived here. 

I can tell you, it was something.........

Once we had a large white military drone fly over 
at tree-top level, too. It made not one sound. 

And that's the extent of our 'traffic'. 


I will leave you with this perfect shot 
of the full moon directly over Mt. Rainier 
that I took last month. 

I will say goodbye for now, I have tubs 
to bail out, plants to water, laundry to fold
and dinner to make for Ramblin' Man. 

This weekend we are celebrating a special birthday
and expecting out of town guests, 
and I will share that with you next time. 

Have a lovely week, dear friends, and 
always keep your eyes open for strange phenomenom
in the skies above! 

xoxo






40 comments:

  1. Wow, great coverage of the event of the century!! Love those crescent shaped shadows. I didn't see those. Missed them, I guess

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nicely written, and the photographs are incredible.. here in California we also experienced partial eclipse.. I didn't have the special glass, so I didn't look at the sun..

    ReplyDelete
  3. The shadows that the eclipse cast were the best. We really enjoyed them. We used Dear's welding helmets to look at the eclipse. Boy you are busy. Have fun celebrating this coming weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd say you did up the event very well! We stayed home too and watched on tv. (At a certain stage everything seems to get a more reasoned cost/benefit analysis.) :o) Loved the shadows!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think it was so great that you saw some of the changes in the light outdoors. We were rainy and overcast here in Michigan and in watching the news in Chicago, it was much the same. Made me feel bad to see all of those people outside their offices with their 'glasses' on. Well, we have seen it on the Weather Channel and news! That's okay enough!

    I did lot of stuff when I was younger...trying to break through the barrier of not pushing myself now. Definitely not in the same way, but things I've made excuses for not doing some things are irrational.

    I hope to get a post up tomorrow.

    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  6. A really spook-tacular effect! Great photos of a great event. x

    ReplyDelete
  7. How very strange. Lovely photos of your phenomenon, Karen. Those crescent shaped shadows are amazing. We saw from all the way down here on the news, that many people had travelled from great distances to witness the event. Though probably a once in a lifetime event, I think I too would have stayed home and watched it on TV. Hope you have a wonderful birthday celebration with your family this weekend, lovely lady.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello, the shadow shots are cool. We had cloudy skies here so we missed it all. I saw some great photos on TV from Oregon. The airplane captures look scary when it was close to the wires. Love all your sweet dogs. Birthday celebrations are fun, enjoy your weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You have got a rare chance. I watched a total solar eclipse five years ago, too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What neat photos you captured. I watched it on you-tube, the NASA showing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderful photos! Since I live in the northeast, I did not get to enjoy the eclipse, but the light did change quite a bit. It was different but lovely just the same.

    Thank you for sharing Karen...

    God bless!

    mari

    ReplyDelete
  12. Loved all your crescents! We had those too. I really enjoyed your "look" at the eclipse! All over the Ranch people were sitting out in their yards with their glasses on, staring at the sky. I took photos of the groups in front of the houses on our cul de sac. We of course did the same. :-) The plane was interesting! And your account of the military plane back when Bush was visiting your area. The only planes we ever get over the house have een the fire-retardant dumping planes, and now with the eclipse we got a lot of traffic, people flying in to Madras and Redmond airports to come to our area. Looks like the big crowds caused very little problem, even traffic-wise...and thankfully no new fires! Hope you have a great day. Loved the picture of the full moon over Mt. Rainier. You have a getter view of your volcano than we do, but I absolutely love our views of Mt. Jefferson! There is something about a huge, snow-covered mountain that makes you feel small, and makes you understand God's powerful awesome world!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lovely photos, Karen! We had an 85% eclipse here, but it was cloudy and rainy. I did manage to catch a glimpse or two, though, through the clouds!

    ReplyDelete
  14. The crescents on top of your umbrella are amazing! It was cloudy here, and I made one of those little holes in a piece of paper and kept going out to try it out, but didn't see anything. The weirdest thing though, at 2:27 pm, when we were supposed to have our 79% totality, my cat knocked over my cup of tea. She has never done this!! Weird, huh? They say animals are tuned in to this kind of thing!
    I'm sure the doggies loved their baths. Love seeing them resting in the sun. That shot of the moon over Mt. Ranier is stunning! xo Deborah

    ReplyDelete
  15. You were right where you needed to be to view the eclipse. The crescents are beautiful. We COULD have seen a 97% eclipse in our backyard, but it was too cloudy, and it eventually poured! We even had our special glasses. Thank you for sharing your experience.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I maybe adding this comment twice. ...had it typed out and lost it somehow! I said...you have a beautiful area in which you live in. Very pretty. We had the total eclipse in the Nashville area and had lots of crescents before the total and after. I did my blog today on the same things. Thanks for coming to visit at the blog, you are always welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Those crescent shadows or lights are amazing! I watched the whole thing on TV too as we were out of range up here in the Northeast. The light did change in the house with an eerie edge to it. Some girls at the bank (right down the street from me) saw the eclipse through the glasses. Strange, because it never got dark here. Although I would never go up in a plane without a covering on the cockpit, or any small plane for that matter, it must be so fun to soar over the forests and mountains.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Those crescents are magical! We live on the other coast in Georgia at the edge of the Sautee Nacoochee Valley. We stayed home and admired the eclipse without the aggravation of traffic. An estimated 7 million visitors came to the hills to watch this epic event. We didn't have the glasses, but when everything grew dark we saw lightning bugs come out and geese flew over to their roosting pond. When it was in this stage of Totality, we looked at it. NASA states that is the only safe time to view it without special glasses. It was so surreal, the whole experience!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Isn't nature magical at times!
    Lovely to see all of your photo's.

    I just watched the TV to see the eclipse - not quite the same but never mind ...

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Karen,

    I also watched the eclipse on tv and how fascinating to actually be able to view that right there. Loved seeing all the little crescents.
    The dogs are all so cute after having their baths.
    Enjoy the special birthday and your guests.
    hugs
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  21. We also noticed strange shadow patterns during the eclipse, although not in the path of total darkness. Jim was on the phone with his twin brother in WY where they experienced darkness, cold temps and strange sunset-like effects.
    Wildlife can be the best part of a camping trip--trying to sleep in a tent was something I never enjoyed. Our best camping during the Wyoming years was after we bought a second-hand slide-in camper for the pickup. Cozy bed, propane stove--some of the comforts of home!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great post, thank you so much. We got nothing here is So CA. just a little overcast like overcast. So I didn't bother to even go outside, just watched it on TV.

    WOW all the doggies you gave a bath to, I would be passed out of the deck, LOL. I can't do that any more as I am 82 and it's just to much for me. So I take Waldo my BC) to A Dog Wash and he came home beautiful and strutted around, so proud. I also has his hair cut shorter and it was cooler for him.

    Your photo's were outstanding, again thanks so much. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  23. We had a 95 percent of the eclipse here. It sure got cold and birds were singing and crows went crazy. A lot of others also photographed the crescent shaped light. I did not even notice it!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Seeing an eclipse is a very odd thing isn't it, so unlike anything else, it definitely gets a lot colder doesn't it. Hope you have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Your photo's were outstanding, again thanks so much. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.


    หนังใหม่

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yes we were able to see the total eclipse here, it was an amazing time, I wrote about on my blog :) We saw those lights too, the guy on tv called them bands but they aren't really sure why it happens, but it is something we don't see any other time. Neat that you were still able to experience it at home with your furbabies! Wow that plane was really taking a chance, I can't get over when they do that kind of stuff. Love the mountain with the moon shot, so cool!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dearest Karen,
    Here in the heart of Georgia it was such a dreary, cloudy and rainy day that nothing was to be seen. Very disappointing to a lot of people but it didn't bother me as both of us are not that crazy about it.
    You showed us very special photos from that day.
    Love the canine spa on the deck; what a lucky fur babies for getting treated like that!
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hello Karen. I watched your eclipse on the news. It was amazing as are your photos.
    My dogs don't like to be in the bath but they love to be clean and best of all they LOVE clean bedding! Pets are funny.
    Have a truly wonderful week :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. I didn't even go outside to see the eclipse. We did not had the dramatic "day to night" thing going here in ND. It got cloudy and that was all. Many people in Iowa reported these crazy crescent shapes in the shadows. I did not see it around here. Sweet dogs!! Nice to have them clean I imagine. We only have cats and they hate bathing. Great shots of the airplane!!! In one shot I can see a person in front there. Amazing. Surely beautiful where you live!

    ReplyDelete
  30. This is a lovely post and an interesting take on the eclipse with your photos around the home. There were lots of fun comments about how Australia reacted to missing out on seeing the eclipse on it's world tour - my favourite was Aussie #solareclipse totally awesome. ten hours of total darkness! Or the one saying it was all fake news! Wow that pilot was a bit crazy!
    Wren x

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love all your photos and the mysterious crescents. The full moon over Mt. Rainier is awesome. But most of all, the doggie baths and naps have captured my heart. So cute! :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi Karen, I'm home from my reunion and I had to stop bu for a visit. Your crescent shaped images that you captured are so awesome!! I watched the eclipse with my mom, sister, a niece and one of my sons. It certainly was an experience! Love and hugs to you.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Karen, no eclipse here in Europe but your post shows it in a very good way!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Love

    ReplyDelete
  34. The shadows from the eclipse are just fascinating to me. I was in California and saw a partial eclipse, but didn't think to look for the shadow. Wow! That airplane must have had a daring pilot.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Beautiful photos Karen! I did not view the eclipse as I live in the Southern Hemisphere, but when we had a partial eclipse a few years ago, I witnessed similarly eerie shadow patterns in my home. It was the oddest thing. I hope your week is lovely. Mimi xxx

    ReplyDelete
  36. Dearest Karen,
    You might want to read this, explaining what those strange shadows were: https://www.space.com/37776-shadow-bands-are-a-solar-eclipse-mystery.html
    I also will link your post to this blog: http://ramblingon-ramblingon.blogspot.com/2017/08/i-would-enjoy-knowing.html
    Sending you sweet hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi Karen, Yes the eclipse was amazing. I watched it on TV too. Outside it looked like the color through polarized sunglasses. It was eerily quiet and darker but still hot for us.
    Love seeing the crescent shadows on your umbrella. What beautiful photos you captured. Your fur babies are so sweet drying off in the sunshine. I know it is exhausting on bath/spa day and I only had one at the time. haha.
    Hope you enjoyed a great weekend celebrating the birthday.
    Have a great week my friend and blessings always. xo

    ReplyDelete
  38. I didn't have glasses either so it was a bit of a bummer for me. I didn't see any of the cool crescent shadows and just didn't see what the big excitement was all about. Oh well, maybe next time. Enjoyed reading your post, seeing your photos & the cute dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Either we had partial one but it occured late night and we had sleep early to wake up early for kids school so could not see .
    i agree by the time the instinct of excitement decreases and we find peace in different things on which we used to laugh before.
    i just loved your very pretty lamp .
    you really know the art of posting as i am amazed how with simple things you create magic of uniqueness Karen .
    Have more blessings my friend,amen

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...