My first total eclipse. The moon relentlessly sweeping across the dazzling surface and eating sunspots, heading towards a destiny that you know will come but can’t quite believe. A hot August day cooling as the sun turns into a thin bright crescent. Baily’s beads and the diamond ring just before totality. Suddenly the world turns strange as if you are in a Gothic movie. The comforting brightness in the sky you’ve lived with all your life has become a photographic negative. The sky at midday is dark enough to see stars and planets. Prominences (9 o’clock and 11 o’clock upper left) and the spectacular corona burst into view. There is sunset color on the horizon for 360 degrees around you. Cheers and tears, everyone seems to have an emotional response. Words cannot do it justice. Pictures cannot do it justice. There is no way to convey what the experience is like, standing out under the open sky, with that incredible event happening overhead. Don’t miss the next one.