You probably heard that there was an eclipse on Monday. It reached 94 percent totality here in Chicago. That’s a solid A if you’re thinking in terms of grades. It was Joe’s first eclipse.
There was an eclipse here in 2017. I forget how much totality we got, but it was a lot. We watched from the back porch. Abby was not impressed.
Usually when there’s some sort of major sky event, it’s cloudy here. I don’t know how many northern lights I have missed. But Monday was perfectly clear. Joe and I walked over to one of the bars in our neighborhood so I could get some eclipse glasses. This is the bar where lots of dogs hang out and where Santa comes every year, so Joe was excited. He walked right in and he didn’t want to leave, even though I told him all the excitement was happening outside.
There was a lot of excitement, by which I mean, lots of dogs and people and nowhere for Joe to sit. Joe doesn’t like sitting on concrete. Would you? So after I drank the ginger ale I had to buy to get the eclipse glasses and the shot of whiskey I got as compensation for having to use the ATM to get the cash to pay for the ginger ale, we walked to the lakefront.
It was like a party. People were even grilling! “It looks like a famous painting!” a random woman told us. Joe gave her a kiss. He was very excited. He trotted across the lawn and tossed his head when he saw people admiring him. Mostly he was happy to be outside and off-leash after a week of rain.
We sat down finally on a little knoll. Joe was still very excited. There were so many people who were noticing and admiring him! The people on the next blanket came over to pet him and praise his handsome bat ears. He couldn’t contain himself and grabbed a stick and started prancing around in a circle.
He wasn’t interested in anything happening in the sky at all, even when I told him that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Most of the other animals around — both the squirrels and the other dogs — seemed to be behaving normally. That is, the squirrels scampered up the trees and the dogs either napped or looked around or scavenged the picnic blankets for food, depending on their temperament.
Through the eclipse glasses, the sun looked variously like a giant orange eyeball or like a crescent moon, except brighter.
The eclipse reached its peak, and then it started going the other way. People got bored and packed up to go home. Joe wanted to go, too, so we did. But he had a good time.
Did you watch the eclipse? Did your dog? Let us know how it went in the comments!