Mono Monday: Week 187 .......

Water. 

So, today was the solar eclipse in the US that everyone has been talking about for ages! Richard took the day off from work so that we would have the opportunity to view it together.

We live in the northeastern part of the United States and were not in the path of the solar eclipse totality .... the percentage here was about 76%. 

With R having the day off we decided to go to Peace Valley Park, which is about an hour south of our house.  We got down there around noon and had a picnic lunch before exploring the park.

We walked around for a bit and decided to set ourselves up on the walking bridge to watch the eclipse. But we were a little disappointed to see that the skies were not as clear as we would have liked.  We waited around for a bit watching the eclipse but I was getting frustrated because I couldn't get the pictures that I had envisioned in my head!

Since the skies were not clear enough we decided to drive back home and try for picture there. Unfortunately, we weren't going to make it all the way home for the peak eclipse moment so we stopped at another park along the way ... Lake Towhee.  There was only one other person at the park ... we pretty much had it to ourselves! And the skies were much clearer here!

We set up our cameras and tried for more pictures ... I have added an extra of my best shot.  

Richard had purchased some NASA approved binoculars that we were using to view the eclipse and there were fantastic.  We asked the only other person at the park if he would like to see the eclipse using these binoculars and he did.  He was almost overwhelmed by the site!

We continued home and by the time we got back here the eclipse was only a memory .... until April 8, 2024!!!

My main picture is of a Great Blue Heron that I took flying over the water at Peace Valley.  And my second extra is a Monarch ... also taken at Peace Valley.