After years of anticipation the day of the total solar eclipse had arrived. We live in an area that was predicted to get 99% coverage but within an hour’s drive of totality, so keeping in mind Annie Dillard’s quote, “Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him.” we set off for the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont where the skies were predicted to be the clearest.

After scouting a few towns and hillsides we landed in Coventry, Vermont, specifically in the Coventry Village School parking lot. We had free range as all the area schools had given their pupils and staff the day off. We were later joined by many other groups looking for community without the crowds gathering in the larger cities.

I knew my iPhone wouldn’t be able to capture decent direct eclipse photos so at the last minute I decided to focus on the parking lot and see if I could film the decreasing light. It worked! Fortunately the couple parked next to us had brought their dog who stayed in my video frame and demonstrated the light change by losing his shadow about a minute and a half into this two minutes thirteen seconds video. There’s a little serendipity at the end as I move my phone getting my fingers into the frame but catching a half decent image of the eclipse with Venus shining beneath it.

I just noticed that the video quickly cuts out without allowing a good view of the final frame with the flared out eclipse and view of Venus so I’ve included a screenshot below.

Once home I journaled my experience and included an eclipse poem by Billy Collins.

Don had much better luck capturing the eclipse with our Cannon PowerShot.

And yes, everything you heard about the traffic is true. Just over an hour up and four and a half hours back. A very long day but worth every second!