Today’s eclipse was a once-in-a-lifetime event here in Maine. It was a picture-perfect day–the warmest day since October 28th. I lunched on the porch while waiting for the eclipse to begin. Gidget and Murphee kept me company, enjoying the sunshine.

Gidget has always been a porch puppy, but Murphee enjoys hanging out in the grass with a good stick.

Hannah and Paul joined me for the main event. We’re a few hours from the path of totality in Northern Maine, so I was surprised at the extent of the eclipse. Milbridge’s magnitude was 97.2%–the percent of the sun covered by the moon.

I played at snapping a few photos but was more interested in simply taking in the light and the changes. This picture was taken at 3:20 pm, 13 minutes before mid-eclipse. At the peak, just a sliver of the sun was visible.

Sunlight remained, but it was eerily muted, almost as if wearing sunglasses or a veil of sorts. We heard our first Spring peeper of the season when the light was weakest. At 3 pm, the temperature was 68.3°. At 3:54 pm, it had dropped to 57.2° before climbing again–an 11.1-degree temperature drop.

It will be another 55 years before another full solar eclipse visits Maine, so I’m glad I enjoyed this experience today.