Eclipse on the Lake

I was going to stay home and watch the eclipse from my driveway.

But when I found out the new neighbor was having several friends over to watch it, and so was another neighbor on the block, I decided I needed to leave.  I don't like sitting alone in my driveway when neighbors have lots of people with them.  It's just awkward, makes me feel very alone, like self-conscious.

So I got up very early and headed up to the lake with my raft.  I figured there would be lots of people watching it from the lake so I would need to arrive early.  I got there just after 7:00 a.m. and there was only one other car in the parking lot.  There were almost no boats on the lake and those there were people fishing.

There were maybe 50 people watching the eclipse from the rest area overlooking the lake along the highway.

I got distracted as the eclipse began.  I'd found a blackberry patch along the water.  I got out to wade so I could pick them.  I had nothing to put the blackberries in, but finally found in my things a plastic grocery bag, and put the berries I picked into that.  The berries were very fat and juicy.

I could see it was about time for the moon to edge over the sun.   Suddenly my cell phone, in the raft, began shrieking that awful emergency alert tone.  I scrambled through the knee deep water I was standing in, to pick berries, to shut it down.  My phone was in a pouch on the raft.  The shrieking beeping sound seemed out of place on the lake.  I looked at the emergency message.  It was a fire danger high alert, warning people not to pull off the road onto grass to watch the eclipse.

I got back in the raft and waited.  There were very few boats on the lake.  I may have seen about a dozen.   Not sure though.  It's a large reservoir.

Totality was over quickly.   I think it lasted about two minutes but it was a fast two minutes seemed like.  The birds, swooping for insects on the lake, never stopped.  The moon turned LED bright white, towards the end, with black streaks in places.  I didn't expect that, or even know why that would happen. Then came the infamous diamond ring, as the sun began to peek out.  The light at first was intense. There were isolated whoops and hollers from different places on the lake.

I had my cell phone camera and tried to take a few photos with one lens of my eclipse glasses over the camera phone lens hole.   I moved though so there was blur.

I rowed back towards the boat ramp during the latter half, after totality, still in partial.  I needed to use the restroom there.   Every now and then I'd don the ill fitting eclipse glasses to take a peek at the progression of the moon out of the path of the sun.

I went back out, for awhile, but ended up falling asleep and didn't wake til branches started poking me.  The raft had drifted against a shore lined in trees.  Then the phone rang and the School Road colony trapper folks had caught two more cats, poor little things, both teens, one had been caught in a kitten trap.  We're almost done with the colony, you see.  Maybe one or two adults left to catch.

Wednesday I take the two, Glory and Rastus, in my garage to the FCCO, leave them there, to be picked up by my barn cat placement friend, along with any more caught, minus two, after they are fixed.  The guy wants to keep two of the cats, after they are fixed.  I don't want to spend all day in Portland however, to pick up the cats at 4:00 to bring them home, so I'll keep the two here he wants to keep, and get them fixed in Salem.   Otherwise, my barn cat placement friend will just pick up from the clinic.

 It's the colony caretakers' friends who have done the trapping work there.   Last night, they caught another.  Number 22.  There may be one more teen and one more kitten.

Twinkie is going to his new home tomorrow too.  A friend is adopting him.  She became obsessed with his photo.  I love it!   And I'm relieved and happy for him.  I hate doing adoptions.  Gives my stomach the willies, turns and churns.  That's why I left it to others.   So if a friend will take a cat, someone I know, oh the relief.  It's like a wave.  Let's me sleep again.

Clementine, who has been here since Thursday, is leaving tonight.  Soon we will be back to almost normal here, outside of Raven, who is doing quite well at last, no more swatting at me, when I try to leave the foster cage, since she's come out of it to roam twice now, she understands it is temporary and she gets so much attention here.  She's become happy.

I'll be very careful finding her a place.  Can't go to anyone who leaves her alone most of the time, or might return her.