It was August 21, 2017 when I saw my last partial solar eclipse, which, thanks to the cloud cover that day, turned out to be the most boring four minutes of my life, not counting a short blind date I went out on in college.

I saw a total eclipse in the movie A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. That one at least had Bing Crosby.

I also should mention that I saw a total lunar eclipse some time after midnight on December 30, 1982. I was by myself on a beach in California and mostly it was just dark, so if I needed an alibi for some reason, I was out of luck.

This time, instead of trucking down to the Adler Planetarium as I did last time for an experience that reminded me of the people in Independence Day gathered on a Los Angeles skyscraper rooftop to welcome the extraterrestrials right before, oops, the carnage began, I decided to head for the park across the street for today’s cloudless 94% experience.

It was a good-sized crowd, many of whom appeared to be enjoying any excuse not to be at work. I was prepared to avoid looking at the sun, but someone shared their Eclipse Shades, so I partook.

As anticipated, there was a diminution of bird chatter for a few minutes at the height of the event, along with a chill breeze that felt like the draft in a haunted castle when Count Dracula enters, which made sense given the somewhat darkened skies.