The thunder lessened through the evening, and by the time I awoke this morning the ground was dry. The sky held its regular Shanghai grey, but I was hopeful that the clouds could break into a lovely blue sky for the 9:00 hour. Quite the contrary, rain began falling as I left home for my Eclipse Viewing Brunch. It fell heavier as we neared our time of totality - 9:36. I entered the restaurant at 9:20 to find a very small crowd. With the grey skies and the falling rain, the eclipse did not bring out the gawkers that many had expected. My friend Anna and I moved outside, standing under a small roof to stare at the small sliver of sky our restaurant afforded us. No sprawling view of the river or bright view of the Pudong skyline. The hotel hosting our event offered such a view, but put us in the lobby restaurant facing the street. With a rainy sky and a street view, we all felt a bit silly as we stared at the grey sky.
And then it got dark. Really quickly. And then it stayed dark - as dark as midnight. And it stayed dark for 5 minutes and 39 seconds. And then it got light again, really quickly. The photos below were taken over a 2 minute span, at exactly the same settings:
We called the Eclipse Viewing Party a non-event, and moved inside to enjoy our free brunch. As I'm usually feeling like its morning when I eat breakfast, I tend to stay away from Chinese food. But this morning, as I'd experienced morning and nightime and then morning again, anything seemed possible. I dived into the Chinese breakfast spread, and loved everything. As it turns out, dim sum, fried rice and chicken congee make a really super breakfast!
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