91% ECLIPSE

I had been hearing about the August 21st eclipse for a while. Mostly due to the fact that Rexburg, Idaho was supposed to be one of the best places in the world to see this total eclipse. Being averse to crowds and then realizing that the eclipse was going to be on Stella's first day of school, I didn't even consider going up to Idaho to experience this once in a lifetime event. Also, what if it wasn't a sunny day!? So, I didn't take it that seriously. But not going to Idaho on this one special day is probably my biggest regret of 2017, maybe even...dare I say it...my life.

So we were told that Salt Lake would experience 91% totality. 91% seemed like a lot. It seemed like it would get pretty dark, so I wasn't worried about it. I didn't even have eclipse glasses, but I got them on a whim from Mark when we had had dinner at the Sallays the night before.

After dropping off my precious child at school and then heading to Home Depot to work on the Sallay Front Door Crisis, I popped down to my parents' house. The whole thing took over an hour and the sun was already partly covered but was still so bright.

We were watching the news and seeing everyone in Idaho getting excited for the big total eclipse and Dad and I were SO annoyed with ourselves for not going up there to see it. What we saw was pretty cool and very exciting, but guess what? It never got dark. The sun is really powerful guys and even if we only have 9% of the sun, it still is pretty sunny. The coolest thing we were able to enjoy was seeing how our shadows looked.

After totality happened in Idaho, Heidi called me in tears and said it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. And Dad and I were crushed. She got a 360 degree sunset and then this burst thing as the sun reappeared. Apparently in about 27 years Salt Lake City will be in the path of totality, but as Dad said: "I'll be dead by then."

Yet, at the end of the day, it was a fun morning to spend with my parents, and Vivi looked cute in the glasses. Which of course was so delightful. Not as delightful as a 360 degree sunset, but still delightful.