when the planets align
Monday, May 21, 2012 by Tracey Clark 
We were returning home from an afternoon spent with some friends when we remembered the solar eclipse was about to start. We pulled our cars over near the coast to take a look. Far too bright to really see, we struggled with make-shift ideas of how to knock down the glare enough to make out the shape as our sun was slowly being covered by the moon. Three pairs of sun glasses, looking through the tinted glass of our car windows, seeing it via reflection...some methods worked better than others but after a few minutes we all got back into our cars, a little defeated, and headed home.
Back at home we tried a few more of my crazy ideas (why we didn't Google it is beyond me) but we couldn't see it like we'd hoped. The family had pretty much called it an event but I kept walking outside every few minutes to see if anything had changed.
Imagine my delight when in rolled in the most ideal layer of thin coastal fog I had ever seen. Like a sheer curtain, the marine layer filtered the sun just enough to be able to get a perfect and clear glimpse of the eclipse. I screamed for the family and when they all came running outside, they were as tickled as I was.
The next time this will happen here, my kids will be 19 & 25 years old. In other words, I knew we were witnessing something very special. Click, click, click went my camera as my girls, now 8 & 14 danced along the sidewalk, squealing and giggling. I'm not sure if I'd have been able to capture the eclipse at all if it weren't for the perfect timing of that marine layer but it didn't matter; the planets had aligned quite literally and I had the honor of documenting it.
If you captured the eclipse, we'd love to see your perspective. It's Best Shot Monday, so share any image you'd like where the planets aligned and got you all aglow!
