TWO MINUTES NINE SECONDS

The time had arrived. We walked to the front of our apartment building and noticed students sitting on the field across the street, ready to view the total solar eclipse.

School was in session for some reason, though most students chose to take the excused absence for today. My son stayed home and we decided to watch the celestial event together.

Many people chose to drive the long distance outside of Austin for a few minutes more of darkness. We chose to forego the traffic and simply stay near our home.

We had our eclipse glasses and our iPhones. I also had my old DSLR camera, which at this point is falling apart, but was still able to capture images. We waited for what seemed like a long time for the totality of the eclipse, watching as the clouds passed by.

The air around us grew quiet. The sky darkened as the moon obscured the sun. Everyone around us watched in awe as the clouds parted just in time for the celestial viewing. The total solar eclipse. Two minutes nine seconds.