Day 1773

We had a nice view of the solar eclipse this evening. As luck would have it, the best viewing time in Dallas was right around sunset, so we actually got a chance to see the eclipse with the naked eye as the ground haze near the horizon filtered the sun's light. After I walked the dogs, I grabbed a camera and headed toward what I though would be the best viewing location. My instincts were right, because when I arrived at my destination, there were several guys with large telescopes already there. One of the guys had a fancy H-Alpha filter on his telescope and let me take a look. There were several very large sunspots and I noticed that there was a bit of a rough edge to the bite the moon had taken out of the sun. I suspect that I was seeing the silhouette of mountains and valleys around the moon's circumference.

I've only seen one total eclipse of the sun in my life, but I've seen many partial ones. I wonder if I'll ever see another total eclipse? These things are pretty rare and almost never pass directly overhead. I saw my first one while I was going to high school in Alaska and I've never seen another one since. It was pretty cool to witness this eclipse though. I've never seen a sunset eclipse before and might never see one again.

Dot had a good day at her physical therapy session today. She seemed confident and sure of herself, with none of the shakiness in her rear legs that we saw last week. I'm always happy when Dot has a good day because it makes me think that all the effort we've put into physical therapy is actually producing some results. Dot seemed to enjoy here acupuncture therapy too, so it was a very good day.

I finished my writing assignment right on schedule and I'm up to speed on all the websites I manage, so maybe I'll have a free day tomorrow. That would be nice. I need to start planning for an upcoming video project and there's always those new Dr. Who episodes I haven't seen yet. I'll do just about anything to avoid re-grouting the shower.

Yikes! I just heard that there is another confirmed case of Ebola in New York City. With so many healthcare workers becoming infected, you'd think that they'd self-quarantine for 21 days outside the country before returning to the United States. One can only hope that common sense will eventually prevail and we'll impose a travel ban, close the borders, and stop issuing Visas to and from these West African countries. This is getting out of hand.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day