Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Partial Eclipse of the Tree

Surely you know about Sunday's solar eclipse. The internet was lit up with it and people all over the world took stunning photos. It was exciting here in Pasadena, too, where the eclipse was merely partial. When the moon got in the sun's way it altered our light, raking it low and gold across porches and lawns, and quieting the birds. Some of my neighbors took fine photos of the eclipse. I didn't manage one.

What cracks me up about this photo is the big shadows made by my ears.

21 comments:

Kalei's Best Friend said...

U picked a perfect spot to show your shadow! what a great tree trunk... As far as your ears, give credit/blame on the eclipse that enhanced them...
:-)

Adele said...

Also, that bicycle seems to be owned by a two- headed person. Eclipses do strange things.

Petrea Burchard said...

It's a very fine tree, KBF--many of the cedars on our block are going on 90. We lost three in the storm but most of them stood.

Adele, you're close! It's owned by a dad with three daughters, one of them only weeks old. We have lots of kids on the block, many of them brand new. It's a banner year!

Latino Heritage said...

I love how the shadows make your legs rather trunk-like. Very cool.

LONDONLULU said...

Fantastic golden light & shadows! Love the description of the birds going quiet, adds to the otherworldly aura.

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Missed the whole thing. I knew it was happening because of Face Book. The best place to be would have been at that little indian museum at Red Box. It's called Haramokngna center. A friend of mine was there; a little Pow wow was taking place where the revelers sang encouraging the moon to displace the sun.

I'm thinking thats not such a good idea

Petrea Burchard said...

LH, I'm pleased that was only temporary.

Lulu, I saw a total eclipse of the sun in 1999, just a mile or two outside of Glastonbury. We parked beside a pasture to wait it out. When the sky went dark (completely! in the middle of the day!) the cows stopped mooing. They just shut up. And we all waited. It was eerie and gorgeous and ancient. You should have seen the Glastonbury Tor when we finally got there, every inch of it covered with pagans who had been there for the experience.

PA, we thought about that--you want the sun to come back.

LOLfromPasa said...

Another interesting photograph. Love it.

Bellis said...

Ooh, you were in Glastonbury and saw the eclipse? Lucky you! Many areas were cloudy that day. I was on a Channel Island with lots of astronomers and members of the press. The headline in the Daily Mail the next day was my husband's sound bite to the reporter: Awesome!

And indeed, it was awesome, ancient, disturbing, magical. For this weekend's annular eclipse my husband climbed to Inspiration Point before realizing he couldn't actually see the sunset from there. Duh! The best view was from - wait for it - the Sunset Trail. He got there just in time.

In your photo, have you doubled, or is that someone else next to you?

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, LOL.

Bellis, that's me with a neighbor. Many of us were out. The kids, too.
It was cloudy in Glastonbury and we didn't actually see the eclipse. What we saw was how the sky darkened at midday, how the world around us quieted into untimely night.
I'm not surprised the Daily Mail quoted your husband; an accomplished astronomer would have something important to say. What does surprise me is that he almost didn't see this year's!

Bellis said...

The clouds covered the sky on Alderney until almost at the end of totality. Tthen, just as we had given up, there was a gap in the clouds and we saw the light reappearing around the edge of the sun. It made me want to fall on my knees and pray to a pagan god, maybe even sacrifice someone in gratitude that the sun had come back. I resisted the impulse.

The second eclipse wasn't quite as exciting - maybe the first one is always the best. We were in Egypt by the Libyan border. Mubarak flew in to watch it. There were rusty tins and petrol cans littered in the desert around us, left over from WWII. But thankfully the area had been swept for old landlmines.

If I was rich, I would go to every total eclipse there is. When's the next one in California?

Trish said...

The last partial solar eclipse I remember had to be ~summer 1991 in NorCal. It didn't go dark, but it was as if it were a really overcast day and the sun just dialed down a lot. Somewhere, I have pictures, though it looks mostly grey, not "eclipse-y".

I lol'd at your ears comment. Go look at the Google streetview of the "Send Help" post location and I then ask, are those your ears in the shadown on the street in that photo too? ;-)

Latino Heritage said...

I was thinking more like roots and a solid stance. Of the earth and all that.

Anonymous said...

Little pictures have big ears.

Petrea Burchard said...

Bellis, if I were rich I'd go to Alderney and Egypt, so there. Here's a solar eclipse calendar. What do you make of it?
http://www.earthview.com/timetable/futureTSE.htm

Trish, what can I say? My ears are not petite.

LH, I will take the solid stance of earth and all that. My one-time college roommate still calls me Tree.

Hiker, I wish I could tell you the bump on the other shadow is a nose, but it's not.

Katie said...

Great light in this photo not to mention the crisp image of your shadow. And amazing to think you won't get light like this for a few more years. I sat outside with my little pin-hole card stock to watch a teeny shadow image of the moon moving over the sun. Kinda cool.

Margaret said...

We had an eclipse picnic!

TheChieftess said...

Your photo gets an A+ for originality!!! Love the shadows and the light! Didn't see the eclipse cause we didn't have those glasses to look or a pinhole box!!! We were in SoPas at their Rotary fundraiser...under the trees and enjoying old friends...I'd love to see the eclipse like the ones in the photos from two Japanese bloggers on Our World Tuesday meme!

Petrea Burchard said...

Well, Katie, I love the pinhole card. And Chieftess, a Rotary fundraiser sounds just fine. But Margaret has us all beat with her eclipse picnic.

Ms M said...

fascinating photo with the amazing golden light. Mysterious with the shadows.

Susan Campisi said...

I like how the tree textures are spotlighted. The ears are a bonus.