We were lucky with the eclipse yesterday. It was touch and go, though, as I woke to heavy skies, covered in a pall of grey. Nevertheless, the camera was charged and came with me. British weather being notoriously fickle, I could always live in hope.
We watched the cloud turn a sickly hue, the dim light fade to that odd, pre-storm shade and felt the temperature drop as the sun was darkened. And we couldn’t see a thing. Even so we stood outside and watched a more luminous corner of the sky with unfounded optimism.
“Can’t you do some Nerk* stuff?”
“There will be Nerks up and down the country willing those clouds to clear…” And a few moments later they did.
For the next half hour we watched the play of light and shade. The sun became the sickle that reminded me of the ‘moon’ symbol of the goddess… and I had to wonder if we were interpreting some of the ancient images correctly. It is she after all who cuts the cords that bring us into life and cuts the cords that bind us to it and it is the sun, not the moon, that gives life to the planet. Perhaps the two symbols are not so very different…
It was a half closed eye, its light silenced by shadow, as I explained once again how and why it happens. Watching I could see the lunar symbolism of many ancient cultures written in the sky, by the moon, but upon the visible face of the sun.
Conditions were perfect… the veil of cloud had not cleared, only thinned, so we were able to watch without fear or damage as the light and warmth returned. As it did so the cloud thinned further, and we looked only on the screen of the camera, capturing the cloud formations as they wove surreal images and shifted from one strange creature to another… ending with the strangest creature of them all. The small dog gets everywhere…
The term ‘Nerk’ as coined by my sons is explained here.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Fantastic images Sue!
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Thanks, Olga!
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Great photo’s Sue. Far better view than what we had here in Brighton & Hove yesterday.
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Sheer luck that the clouds thinned just ‘there’ and just then 🙂 We saw half of it at least 🙂
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Love the photos. London gave us nothing yesterday beyond the residue of Russian smog. Que sera, sera! Seems like the Scots stole all yesterday’s glory.
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I’m only 40 miles outside London and thought we would see nothing at ll… there was a perfect thinning of the clouds, though 🙂
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Grr, not helping, Sue, not helping at all!!
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Oops… 🙂 Sorry about that….
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That was so clever. I was with family looking at your post and we all thought the doggy cloud effect amazing.
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And perfectly real too… all I did was darken the shot a little to bring it out.
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Wow!!
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Couldn’t resist the overlay though, it just fit the contours perfectly 🙂
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Reblogged this on oshriradhekrishnabole.
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Glad to be another ‘nerk’, something we should all aspire to, I think…
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I’m sort of proud of being part of that family 🙂
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Reblogged this on Anita & Jaye Dawes.
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Great pictures, Sue! The small dog is just everywhere!!
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There is, apparently, no stopping her 🙂
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All just lovely and the post too! Happy equinox day!
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Thanks, Susan… and a blessed turning of the year to you! 🙂
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What an incredible dog-like creature! Love the photos. How can one not stir inside the core of your being when looking at those images – and to think we are part of all that!
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It does bring home somehow the immensity of the wonder in which we live. I loved the cloud formation though 🙂
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Nice photos. Shows how much I paid attention since I didn’t hear about this until mid-morning yesterday.
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I only realised by accident too.. not having TV does have its drawbacks sometimes 🙂
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Very cloudy here, so I wouldn’t have seen it anyway. Oh well.
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It was here… and didn’t think we would… but we saw a good half the event after all 🙂
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love the Cheshire Cat grin image
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That has to be the best moment that we saw 🙂
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what lovely and magical shots, sue. fantastic.
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Thank you 🙂
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That’s a crazy photo of the ‘dog cloud’. Very cool.
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I couldn’t believe it when i saw it 🙂
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Talk about being in the right spot, at the right time and armed with a camera!
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Well, I’d had it pointed at that patch of sky for a while with the eclipse… but i seldom move without it 🙂
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Great shots Sue – some of the best I have seen. Unfortunately I witnessed (or not) from an office window in deepest Leeds 😦
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I took one or two… or so 🙂 They do tend to be a bit bland without the clouds though.
There are worst places to be than Leeds. (See how loyal I am to my hometown?)
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Are you from Leeds???
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Originally, yes 🙂
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Canada me, now living in Otley 🙂
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And i’m in exile in the south 😦
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Pretty exciting, particularly since it won’t happen again in our lifetime.
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2026 will be the next best thing. As my son has forbidden me to die without written permission in triplcate, I might see that one 🙂
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LOL! Good boy! 🙂
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🙂
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Couldn’t see it on this side of the pond but it was raining all day anyway. So the dog has her own celestial profile now!
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I know and I’l never live it down 😉
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Lol!! Love the small dog in with the eclipse! She doesn’t miss a thing does she? lol ☺
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Never. Not if it moves or is edible 🙂
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