Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.
He hath also established them forever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
Psalm 148:1-7
I had no plans or intentions to travel to view the totality of the April Solar Eclipse 2024. In March my local Experimental Aircraft Association had a wonderful presentation on eclipses in general by Mary Smith of the Kansas Cosmosphere staff.
Mary’s presentation imparted some stunning information:
- Solar eclipses occur four times a year somewhere on Earth
- Their time and place are completely predictable
- The awesomeness of totality is breathtaking…..
To say she is enthusiastic about solar eclipses is a gross understatement! Yet, I was not convinced.
Past Disappointments
I remained unwilling to deal with the variables and chase around to crowded locations to view the Solar Eclipse 2024.
This was partially due to the great effort made to see the August 2017 solar eclipse, but clouds blocked seeing the actual event. I will admit that even with the clouds when darkness fell, the effect was pretty cool. However, I was not in the mood to make the same effort this year to be disappointed again.
But Then…
As we began to prepare for a trip to Michigan to pick up an airplane engine I had purchased for the biplane I am building, we realized we would be right in the path of totality on the return trip!
My husband got busy and found a great location outside Muncie, IN. It is the site of the American Model Aircraft (AMA) headquarters. They were selling reserved spots for viewing, so we purchased a spot and worked it into our itinerary.
It was perfect. It was away from the more crowded venues and wondrously low-key. There were:
- model aircraft flying beforehand
- t-shirts and food for sale
- quiet groups of adults, children, and their dogs camping, chatting, and generally behaving themselves.
It felt safe. It felt respectful of the drama we were about to witness. There was no competing drama from the ground. It felt right.
My Solar Eclipse 2024 Video
I captured the event on my iPhone here. There are hundreds, if not thousands of videos of this event much more dramatic and beautiful. Here are links to those, but I wanted to share my experience with you.
One of my Life Plan accounts involves meaningful travel to new places. However, I am not a good looky-loo tourist traveler. I like to have a purpose beyond just visiting a location, although we have done a fair amount of that sort of thing, having a reason to go to a place is much more satisfying.
This trip had something for both my spouse and me. I got my airplane engine and he got the solar experience he wanted. In the end, I am glad I got to see the 2024 Solar Eclipse. It was breathtaking.