What's to see, sitting on an island, waiting for a total solar eclipse? Come with me and finish my canoe trip to experience the longest possible total solar eclipse time in Oregon last summer.
We pushed our canoe off at dawn, into Oregon's Willamette River - headed for an island, to camp overnight. That lets us watch how the birds, insects, and other river life experience sunset and sunrise. And we can compare that to what we might see during the total solar eclipse. I would never have guessed all that we would see!
Eclipse Parties on the River
We heard them before we saw them! Zoooom!
Other parties were more quiet!
The Eclipse
It begins!
It's here!
The total eclipse was going to last only 162 seconds! This old magazine article explained how our brains stop processing a single image after about 8 seconds. So to really imprint the eclipse in our memory, we needed to look away -- to look at the unique effects of the eclipse around us -- and then look back at the sun for another 8 seconds. And then look around again, then back at the sun, over and over. And don't waste time taking pictures!
It's gone!
We were surprised how the brightness of the day did not drop at all -- until right at the totality, when the moon completely blocked the sun. During the totality, we saw swallows go out over the river -- hunting for insects, just like at sunrise and sunset. We heard birds, like doves, and insects, like cicadas, calling in the low light, too. The world didn't get totally dark. Instead, it looked like sunset - but in all directions, all 360 degrees around us. And there, up in the sky, a flat black disk, surrounded by incredible rays of light.
Moving On Down The River
Thanks for Walking - and Canoeing - With Me
I hope you enjoyed this canoe float down the Willamette River to see the total eclipse of the sun!
Counting our own canoe, how many modes of transportation did we see on our eclipse trip? The ferry, small airplanes, large planes way up high, a hot air balloon, kayaks, motorboats, jet skis, motor boats, and whatever that last contraption is. And not a single automobile! That's memorable, even without an eclipse!
The next eclipse over North America will happen on April 8, 2024. Let's hope for clear weather for everyone on that day! If you have any chance at all to go see the totality, do it. A partial eclipse doesn't compare.
And thanks to
for the #walkwithme tag!
- Have you traveled on any of the modes of transportation we saw on our canoe trip?
- Would you ride that last water jet contraption?
- Did you see the solar eclipse in August?
- Do you live anywhere near the next total solar eclipse?
- Did you see the Lunar Eclipse on Wednesday night?
Haphazard Homestead

foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land