Drove all the way South down to Devon with Mrs' son, to witness the total solar eclipse of August 1999. Come the day, patchy cloud. Which worsened as time came for the Big Event. We - huge crowds had gathered in that corner of England - made the most of it, that well-practiced and well-observed cultural response across the UK. It really was eerie as complete darkness fell, at least for a few minutes, all the birds stopped singing, even the people went silent.
Then light came back, crowds began to disperse, even the overcast dispersed and those still hangin' abaht showed fake enthusiasm looking at Sun through our special viewing specs mostly eaten up by Moon. Sun, that is, not specs.