LOL, donn - you must have been outside at the same time as I was, because this was exactly what I saw when I went outside at about 5:35. I kept peeking on and off through the night but finally went to sleep and got up at 5:30. I tried to see the other end of it, but I guess the sun was too bright because after the moon disappeared, it never came back! Thanks for the photo. My son, who was too tired to get up (and this being the first day of school wanted to sleep as late as possible) asked me first thing if I took pictures. The thought never crossed my mind, so I will show him yours. A beautiful morning today! Nice to be out so early! :) Dee

There's a lot of good pictures of the Eclipse online. Pretty much all I saw today was lots of heavy clouds and rain.

In Sparta, we drove to a convenience store parking lot to use the restroom. It was a little bit after noon, well over an hour before peak eclipse time when we got ready to drive around to find our viewing location. Robert just happened to look up with his eclipse glasses before we got into the vehicle and said, "It's already started!" Sure enough, a little bite was missing from the sun! Even that was exciting. The difference between any smaller percentage and a full eclipse is very significant. You wouldn't think so, but it is. Even at the last minute.....99%.....there is still sunlight providing light, if even a little bit. as the moon moved into that perfect position everything changed. It was shocking, startling, gasp provoking. Can't explain it, really. I shouted to everyone to remove their eclipse glasses; it was an amazing thing to see. The corona around black hole was like a dim night light, providing some illumination to the night sky but not to the ground. Can't really explain it. Everyone was quiet, speaking only in whispers to those closest. It was an intimate moment for this small group we were with, thankfully not a mob nor with an idiot who felt compelled to shoot off fireworks. ;-( But that second when the moon moved into that perfect spot, lots of noisy spontaneous reactions. Funny about the bug spray. The guy who came with his little Yorkie (Rocky, a rescue) went around offering spritzes of his organic repellent after the little nuisances came out in hoards; they were ravenous! It duskish at that time and we needed protection! By the way, Huntsville was in the 97% range, enough to enjoy an interesting experience. We chose to "go big" and drive that picturesque two hours to Sparta. Robert took a couple of quick videos and they are both filled with the sounds of the crickets and cicadas. The difference between a couple of minutes before the total eclipse and the big moment was striking. Day and night. I can't quite explain it.

We watched it, full eclipse at 10:29 PM, very cool. As we were sitting out on the dock, the lake was glass still and the loons were calling, just magical. I looked over towards the west night sky and saw what appeared to be about 60-100 stars all in a row traversing across the sky at a very fast pace. All 3 of us watched in amazement, one way watching the "stars" and the other way watching the eclipse. When we got back into the house DD looked up what it could be and turns out the stars were actually Starlink satellites racing across the sky. There is a schedule of when they will be visible, and are usually visible for about 2 minutes a couple times a night.