The Great American Eclipse

Today was the day many people have been waiting for, the day when a total eclipse marched across much of our nation. Here in central Texas the moon only covered approximately 68 percent of the sun.

Dan and I watched and definitely noticed a dimming of light, but no darkness. Over the entire course of the eclipse, the temperature dropped a couple of degrees, according to our thermometer. Dan used a couple of paper plates to make a pinhole projector, and it worked perfectly. Here's what the eclipse was like at its maximum. The second picture is just an enlargement of the first one.

Oh No!

See these little cards - the size of sports trading cards, but with ancestors on the fronts and interesting personal facts on the backs? I'll actually blog about this - another big project I've taken on - later, when it is finished. Suffice it to say, for now, that on Thursday I picked up a few of the cards from the print shop because they wanted me to fix something in the layout before they printed a preliminary proof-set for me.

They sent me home to make the changes, and let me take all but one of the six cards that they had already printed. I got in the car and tossed them on top of the sliding door that covers a compartment in my center console. Here are a couple pictures of what I mean.

I laid the cards down on top of the little sliding door,  just like I've laid the pen down in this photo.

As you can see, when the door slides open, there's a handy little compartment inside.

I stopped at the first traffic light, and those slippery cards slid forward, and disappeared under the top of the frame (above where the top of the pen is pointing). Two of the cards still had corners sticking out, so I was able to retrieve them. But the other three were gone from view. When I got home I tried to open the compartment, but the door was jammed because of the hidden cards. Oh no!

Dan wasn't able to solve the problem, either, and said I should call the service department and make an appointment. So, on Friday I went down to Georgetown to get some help. The only way to get the cards out and get the sliding door functioning again was to remove the console assembly, AC control head and bluetooth antenna; retrieve the three cards; and reassemble everything. What a surprise: "Retrieving cards from inside the console" is NOT covered under the warranty! Yeah . . . this fun genealogy project is becoming much more expensive than I had anticipated! Ugh!

Just a Little Walk in the Woods

Last evening Dan and I went to Chalk Ridge Falls Park, about a 15-minute drive from our house, and hiked the portion of the trail that leads to the first of two falls - the one that gives its name to the park. I was hoping to get a few pictures, and that's what a got - only a FEW pictures. The sun was still a wee bit too high in the sky for completing the assignments from my great on-line Craftsy.com photography class I'm enrolled in. The park closes at 8:00, so we couldn't stay for the sun to set (about 8:15) and still walk the trail back to the car.

The scenery was lovely. We were in the shade of tall trees almost the entire time. Getting down to the level where I could get some good shots of the falls was a little tricky - steep trail and stairs - but it was worth it.

From the trail

Fishermen on the bank of the river. Pretty steep stairs to get down there.

A little pond

Finally, Chalk Ridge Falls! 

With a fast shutter speed, and . . . 

with a slow shutter speed - all "foamy."

While down at the falls, Dan struck up a conversation with a young couple. We talked for about a half hour, and really enjoyed listening to the fascinating experiences they'd had in their world-travels. They were newly-weds, having gotten married on 7/7/17 in an underwater wedding at Stillhouse Hollow Lake. The young man is a photographer and a diving instructor, and his bride, who was one of his diving students, is from Venezuela.