Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, September 4, 2017

A PERFECT Solar Eclipse --August 21, 2017

Both George and Jeff put together their total views of the Eclipse... This is George's picture....  Isn't it fantastic?  (Jeff's composite is at the bottom of the post.)  
As many of you know,   here near Crossville,  Tennessee,   we had a nearly perfect view of the Solor Eclipse this past month (8/21/17)......    So--my son and beautiful daughter-in-law came to see us that day..... Had a great day with them --and we all thoroughly enjoyed seeing the ECLIPSE....

Both Jeff and George are fantastic photographers  --and Dawn and I were lucky to have them with us that day.....They took some fabulous pictures for me to share today!!!    Hope you enjoy some of our pictures....


Son Jeff --who brought all of his fancy equipment --including his telescope...  We got to see the eclipse 'up close and personal' looking through his telescope....  AWESOME!



Another picture showing some of Jeff's special equipment!  Wow!



George (using his tripod, glasses and special lens) set up shop on the back deck......   He had been practicing ahead of time; therefore his pictures came out TREMENDOUS also.



Jeff and Dawn and I worked from the front yard.   Jeff was smart enough to bring us a tarp for shade (on that hot afternoon).   He just backed their car into the driveway and we had a perfect place to view this very very special event.   Dawn and I took pictures with our iPhones --and I got some with my Canon while wandering around.



I love this picture of Jeff getting some pictures with his camera....



Of course,  the four of us just HAD to have special shirts for the occasion.  Here is what the back of our shirts said.   Dawn (who is from Georgia) chose Georgia for her shirt instead of Tennessee. 



AND ---here are the four of us with our special shirts on!  We are all SO happy to be here.



Here is a picture I took with my Canon.   I called this our Crescent SUN.... ha



Also from my Canon,  there's just a sliver of light left before total blackout!!!!



TOTAL DARKNESS for 2 minutes and 32 seconds!!!!   I took this picture with my cellphone (using the flash)....   It got so dark that the solar lights in our yard lit up!!!!!!



Another picture (using cellphone and flash) showing our total darkness about 1:30 in the afternoon!!!  AMAZING...



And one more I took (with cellphone) --without flash!  Everything got so QUIET and STILL during that time.  I'm sure the wild animals didn't know what to think... I know that the birds must have taken a short nap because none were singing or flying around at that time!!!



This is one of my favorite pictures that George took...  The darkness was ending and the light was coming back.  This is known as the DIAMOND RING.....  Isn't it terrific?   Unbelievable!!!



Finally,  this is Jeff's great collection of the eclipse --from beginning to end.... For your information,  the eclipse started about 12 noon (our time --CENTRAL) and totally ended about 3:00... Darkness happened at about 1:30.  
I am so proud of both George and Jeff and of the awesome pictures they both got on that fantastic day.   I am still excited while thinking about it...  For me,  it was and will be a lifetime experience.  It's so nice to be at the right place--at the right time,   here at our home!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed this half as much as I did as I shared it with you....  It was such a joy (after the sadness of the week before) to be home with such talented people.   Thanks Jeff and Dawn for coming here!!!!  I LOVED every minute of it.

Have a great month...  On another note,  I am taking a few weeks off from blogging and commenting---but will be back soon....

Hugs,

40 comments:

diane b said...

How lucky to experience it at your own house. The boys captured some great shots. It must have been an exciting experience

BeachGypsy said...

I love the amazing pictures especially the "diamond ring" one! Will miss you---but you go and take all the time you need....see you when you return my new friend!

Big Dude said...

Great shots as always from you guys

Ann said...

amazing photos. Here it wasn't so spectacular. We only had about 70 percent coverage and I've seen it get darker during a rain storm.

linda m said...

Those are really amazing photographs. You were so lucky to be in the path of total darkness. We weren't so lucky as it just got darker but we also had clouds.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, you were all lucky to be in the right spot for viewing the eclipse. Looks like you have a family of professional photographers there. Wonderful images, thanks for sharing! Happy Labor Day! Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

George said...

You did a great job of sharing out eclipse experiences. You got some great pictures during the darkness. The whole thing was amazing.

Jeevan said...

Should be a fantastic experience with all the equipment’s to view and shoot the eclipse! The darkness in the afternoon looks amazing and excellent captures for the memories. Jeff and George have done fantabulous with their skilful photographs.

David said...

Betsy, All that special equipment certainly paid off... Great photos of a rare occurrence! Made my look really inadequate... Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Judy said...

It would seem that you were in the perfect place at the right time. I had no idea it would get so dark. Here in southern Ontario it got 'gloomy' like it does before rain. Great pictures.

Chatty Crone said...

Betsy - you all were so lucky and so blessed - it is a once in a life time viewing. I saw it at 97% which was pretty good.

Ginny Hartzler said...

The pictures are all wonderful! And I would expect nothing less from a family of photographers!! You even got great shots with your phone!! It did not even get a tiny bit dark here, everything looked normal. I could not believe it. My favorite picture here is George's diamond ring, and you with your family, happy and excited!

Fun60 said...

How wonderful to see somthing as special as that from your garden. Superb shots to remind you of the event.

Liene said...

I LOVED experiencing the eclipse! Already planning on heading north for the next one :) Enjoy your break...

Arkansas Patti said...

What an amazing series of shots. Definitely frame worthy. That was some telescope your son has. So glad you had such a wonderful view and got to see totality.
Should hit Arkansas in 2024.

Marcia said...

Thanks for posting these. They were some of the best photos I've seen of the eclipse.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Thanks for sharing all these fantastic pictures. At least this way I can enjoy the eclipse as well. We had a partial and even that was cool.

Linda said...

Wow, great pictures! That's a fancy telescope. I love the image of all of you in the special shirts.

The Furry Gnome said...

Both amazing series of photos! They're obviously both great photographers. And that's some serious telescope.

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

I haven't seen any better images of the eclipse than what you've shown here. George and Jeff did an amazing job. And that telescope would have been wonderful to have for the occasion. I'm so glad Jeff was able to bring it.

Lady Fi said...

Wow - amazing shots of the eclipse. Hope you find peace in your time off blogging.

Janice K said...

The best pictures I've seen!

Linda G. said...

Next total solar eclipse will be in our back yard :)

Betsy said...

WOW! These were amazing shots and I thank you for sharing them all with us. So beautiful, especially the "diamond ring".
Blessings,
Betsy

Betsy said...

Whoa, what great shots. I am sure you will frame these as they are so wonderful to see.
betsy

very_inky_fingers said...

Best photos I have seen of the eclipse!

Lowcarb team member said...

How wonderful to experience this at your own house. I think the boys captured some amazing shots. They are all so good, especially the 'diamond ring' one.

See you after your blogging break ...
Sending my good wishes.

All the best Jan

BeachGypsy said...

Real glad to see you had stopped in, Betsy! I know---the amazing stories these old homes and streets and churches tell....secrets, tears and joys.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Weren't you lucky to be at such a great viewing spot! We were a bit over 91%. The boys sure had fun seeing it at school - they ordered them all glasses and extended the school day. You did get amazing photos!

Happytrails said...

You have quite a collection of very impressive eclipse photos. You were very fortunate to be in the total eclipse path as it was an incredible experience. Thank you for sharing such spectacular photos with us.

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

Thanks for sharing. The eclipse was great. We had to travel to be in totality. We made a fun weekend out of it. Unfortunately, when the total eclipse happened, we had clouds, but wow the darkness. We had scouted out a place in the open between a corn field and a soybean field in NE on a bike trail. We could see quite a distance and had a 360 degree sunrise. It was so cool. Already talking about traveling to the next one.

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

Take your time off! Wow it did get dark, glad you said 2 minutes 32 seconds if I remember right! It was smart of him to bring tarp etc. all looked like y'all had fun.

Lux G. said...

An experience of a lifetime. Good job you guys for witnessing this marvelous display of nature.

Shug said...

Hi Betsy... still keeping you and your family in my prayers! I saw a lot of pictures from the eclipse, but I do believe that y'alls was absolutely the BEST. GREAT pictures!

Pat Tillett said...

And you didn't even have to travel to see it in full. Awesome! That is quite a setup your son has. Wow! Not that we would have seen a total eclipse here anyway, but it obscured by clouds, so we saw exactly nothing.
Seeing it totally dark in the middle of the day, makes me better understand (and believe) why the Aztecs, and others thought it was a message from the gods.

Anonymous said...

Hi Betsy, Glad you all had such a nice time with the eclipse. We saw it on TV as the weather in our locality was not good enough to get much of even the little view we would have had otherwise. Too far South. Have a wonderful day tomorrow! Enjoy the coming Fall weather.

Kay said...

My daughter-in-law's parents went to Tennessee to see the eclipse. I am in total awe of your photos. Ours did not come out nearly as fabulous as yours! I LOVE the diamond ring photo. Absolutely awesome! What amazing equipment your son has!!!

Small Kucing said...

Dropping by to say Hi. Hope you are fine over there

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

I am amazed at what you all did to take advantage of that opportunity. The photos are spectacular. I have never heard of nor seen the so callef diamond ring and love that George was able to capture it. What a triumphant achievement.

Annesphamily said...

Beautiful photo shares. You are very blessed. I also loved the video dawn's daughter shared. Beautiful and I wish everyone thoguht they way this lovely young lady does. :-)