Despite persistent forecasts last week that Monday, the day of the much anticipated Solar eclipse would be probably be cloudy, with the morning sunrise, every one knew this was going to be a good day.
In fact, it was just about perfect. The clouds were light, the sun shown bright, car loads of visitors poured into the area and the eclipse — well, it was everything we’d been told to expect.
The first thing locals across the Heart of Texas and Northwest Hill County noticed were that public areas filled with local residents and visitors well before noon in order to be sure they had a good position when the magic time came. ‘
Then, as the time approached, there was a special feeling building as the light began to dim and reflect a slight purple hue. As the tiny arch of sunlight atop the moon got smaller, the temperature dropped and the light grew darker and the street lights came on.
Then — the total eclipse with the moon blocking the sun for just a few short minutes before the process began to reverse itself as moon moved on.
For those who had traveled from out of state and from across the world to get here for that special moment, the experience was, they said, worth every effort.
And, there were lots of visitors. Some poured into organized spaces such as Richards Park in Brady, the McCulloch County Courthouse lawn or Willie Washington Park.
Some took advantage of small spaces such as the parking area adjacent to the San Saba River Bridge on Highway 87, or the turn out to Camp San Saba where a visitor from Las Vegas settled into a patch of Bluebonnets for the occasion.
It wasn’t hard to find people who had traveled long distances for the experience of a lifetime. They came from California, Minnesota, Washington D.C., Los Angeles. One visitor who made the trip from the Netherlands described the event as spectacular and compared its effect on viewers as comparable to when America first put a man on the moon.
