Minnesotans dodge clouds for fleeting glimpse of eclipse
The line to snag dark eclipse glasses wound all the way around the lawn at the Maple Grove library. Kids pulled on their parents' arms and ran around the grass with an hour and a half to go before peak eclipse time in Minnesota.
"This is it, the precious end," said library supervisor Maureen Buss as she handed out the last of the eclipse viewing glasses.
Some of those without glasses made pinhole viewers, others retreated to the library to watch coverage on television.
But like eclipse viewers around Minnesota, those at the library had a hit-or-miss experience, with clouds obscuring the rare event in some areas.
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Zubeda Parpia came all the way from Kenya to watch the eclipse with family that lives in Maple Grove.
"I heard that this eclipse was going to — you know — so then I thought that this was the better place," she said.
Better than Kenya perhaps. But it wasn't exactly the best place. Clouds gathered just before the key moment. Everyone kept looking around hopefully, but it started to sprinkle. Parpia and grandson Mohamed headed inside.
Ahmed Reda of the Minnesota Astronomical Society paced around a solar filtered telescope and binoculars he'd set up.
"If it wasn't cloudy right now," he said, you'd have "a big round light and you bring a disk in front of it gradually and it starts to cover up that light."
Then pack of Cub Scouts in maroon t-shirts spotted it. It was just minutes before peak coverage, and the clouds parted the tiniest bit.
"It looked like a crescent over the sun," declared one scout from Maple Grove Cub Scout Pack 684, whose members donned dark eclipse glasses and looked up at the sky, earning a merit badge for learning about and witnessing the event.
"There it is, there it is again!" exclaimed another scout before the clouds closed back over. "Now it's all done."
Viewing turned into a game of tag. The rain started up again and families filtered inside. Many curled up with books from the stacks.
Next total solar eclipse visible in the U.S.? Only seven years to go.
