Some of those pictures of the skies growing dark midday were pretty amazing. A sunset and sunrise over the Adirondacks from an unfamiliar direction. I think the clouds made the skies even darker and more dramatic then they otherwise would be during a total eclipse.

That said, watching the partial – 97% eclipse in Albany with the team was an amazing experience – I got everyone glasses and closed the office down for the eclipse. It was a mild afternoon, we sat at a picnic table and observed for over an hour. For the first part of the eclipse it was fairly clear though close to maximum totality clouds pushed in but then later relented.

For many in my office it will be as full of an eclipse that they’ll see in their lifetime and maybe my own too. It all depends if I decide at age 62 to see the total eclipse in the south in 2045. Depends where I’m living at that point and how far I’m willing to travel for three minutes of darkness during the day. Maybe the Adirondack eclipse was my best chance to see a total eclipse and I blew it. Certainly age 62 is not guaranteed.

I thought about seeing the total eclipse for some time but with work and everything else I decided to pass it by. But I have twenty years now to reconsider, which will certainly pass by much too quickly. Maybe I’ll have land by then and depending where I decide to settle down it might be in the next path of totality. Who knows, a lot will change over the next two decades.