THE ECLIPSE: A FOND LOOK BACK

So, the eclipse happened yesterday, maybe you heard. Here are some highlights:
– It started near Lincoln City, Oregon, and traveled diagonally across the United States at 1,500 miles per hour. It exited near Charleston, South Carolina.
– The total eclipse — when the moon completely covers the sun, darkening skies — only lasted anywhere from several seconds to up to two and a half minutes. But the 12 states it passed through on Monday enjoyed a partial eclipse for two to three hours.
– Crowds cheered and pointed.
– Carbondale, Illinois, and Hopkinsville, Kentucky, were in the dark for the longest, at 2 minutes, 38 seconds.
– Some cloud cover in Carbondale, Illinois, partially obstructed the view for several seconds, prompting some boos from disappointed eclipse viewers. But then the clouds parted, and the crowd gasped.
– Giraffes and zebras at the Nashville Zoo were freaked out by Monday’s solar eclipse, and went running wildly around their enclosures after the sky went dark. The zoo’s two young giraffes stampeded madly in circles, while some of the nearby rhinos bolted for their pens thinking it was time for bed.
– In Denver, Colorado, which only had 92 percent obscuration, there was also a significant temperature change The temperature dropped from 85 degrees to 77 degrees.
– A baby girl born in South Carolina, a few hours before the total solar eclipse, has been legally named Eclipse Alizabeth Eubanks by her mother, Freedom Eubanks. No surprise there.
– At least one couple got married. Samantha and Cameron Kuhn celebrated with their closest friends and family in the path of totality in St. Joseph, Missouri. “Being able to do the wedding on the day of the solar eclipse couldn’t be any more perfect,” bride Samantha Kuhn, 28.
– Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 hit, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” climbed to number 1 on the iTunes charts.
– The Trump family – Donald, Melania and Barron – watched from the Truman balcony of the White House wearing the cheap cardboard glasses. Being the rulebreaker that he is, the President even neaked a couple of peeks at the sun without wearing his glasses. Maverick!
* And always remember – you trusted your precious eyesight and that of your children to a flimsy piece of cardboard that cost about a half-cent to make.
* I keep getting the Eclipse and the Purge mixed up. Maybe I shouldn’t have killed those two guys who were handing out flyers at my front door.