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How 'Morning Edition' listeners experienced the solar eclipse

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Tens of millions of people across the U.S. watched yesterday's solar eclipse. We asked listeners to tell us about the experience.

(SOUNDBITE OF BACON SIZZLING)

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Now, for some, the day started with tailgating. Steve Riden cooked up bacon for his kids as they waited in northern Vermont.

STEVE RIDEN: We're actually in a parking lot of an old mall. There are families around us playing cards. There are kids running around. There's dogs. And there is not a cloud in the sky here in St. Johnsbury, Vermont today.

FADEL: And just before totality, the sky turned gray, the wind died down and people got quiet.

RIDEN: It is remarkable how dark everything is getting right now. It went from a warm, sunny day to now...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my gosh.

(CHEERING)

RIDEN: Oh, my God. Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Look. Take off your glasses.

RIDEN: Whoa (laughter).

(CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: That looks awesome.

(CHEERING)

RIDEN: I've never seen anything like that.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: This is wild.

RIDEN: This is unbelievable.

MARTÍNEZ: The sound of wonder - now, some made plans far in advance. Will Pedigo and his family got hooked after the eclipse of 2017.

(SOUNDBITE OF SNOW CRUNCHING UNDER FOOTSTEPS)

WILL PEDIGO: We booked a farmhouse in Schuyler Falls, N.Y., almost two years ago. And now I'm standing out in the middle of a field in about six inches of snow...

(SOUNDBITE OF BIRD SQUAWKING)

PEDIGO: ...With crisp, clear, blue skies.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Look, look, the sunset.

PEDIGO: Oh, look. All the way around.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: There's the 360 sunset.

PEDIGO: Sunset everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Oh, wow. All the way.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: There's a 360 sunset.

PEDIGO: Wow. This is unreal. And the stars are out.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I know.

FADEL: Six-year-old Simon Giles from Pittsburgh packed snacks for a road trip.

SIMON GILES: I'm skipping school to drive to Buffalo to watch with my grandparents and uncles.

MARTÍNEZ: Another family, Gina Montana and her daughter Jahia Montana-Forbes, traveled from New Orleans to Terrell, Texas.

GINA MONTANA: It's Jamie Foxx's hometown (laughter). And we have our glasses and our matching T-shirts and matching earrings with little suns on them.

FADEL: And they witnessed their second totality together from a field of wildflowers.

MONTANA: This is so amazing.

JAHIA MONTANA-FORBES: It's amazing and beautiful. You can see the corona. The middle of the sun is completely black.

MONTANA: There's a planet. I don't know if it's Venus or Jupiter. We're citizens of the planet Earth, and we pray for peace - peace of mind, peace throughout the world.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Yeah. Yeah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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