Sisters was quiet for eclipse

As local residents of Sisters awoke to smoke-filled skies, many out-of-town visitors prepared for the coming full solar eclipse.

In the yard of their rented home off South Pine Street, a small group of nine friends set up a homemade projection screen to view the eclipse. They came from Palo Alto, California, Longview, Washington, and Portland and Bend, Oregon to join their friends in experiencing Sisters and the eclipse.

Jeff Myers, a scientist with NASA who works at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, and one of the guests developed a homemade projection system to view the sun. Utilizing a technique learned from an amateur astronomer, he placed a spotting scope on a table and pointed it at the sun. It projected onto a canvas frame, provided by Kim Osgood, a visiting artist who lives in Portland, and displayed the sun as a slowly fading six-inch circle as the moon slowly overtook it in morning hours.

Watching through eclipse glasses and welding goggles the friends watched as the sun began to fade over the treetops. Whoops and hollers could be heard around the neighborhood at the point of totality, and a few cheered in excitement during the thirty-four seconds of darkness.

For the nine guests, Monday's eclipse was their first experience in totality. And choosing Sisters as their viewpoint was easy.

"I came through Sisters back in May of this year, and instantly loved this little town," said Tom Hickey, a resident of Longview, Washington.

Other members of the group shared their first impressions of the little mountain town and the thought of experiencing it in Madras or Prineville didn't appeal to them. The calm and quiet of Sisters made for their perfect getaway.

The smoke from the Milli Fire was a concern to them, too.

"This morning we were worried about the smoke and considered heading east, but we decided to stay and hope for the best," said Jeff. "I'm glad we stayed."

Other small groups gathered along the nearly deserted streets of Sisters. As the moon slowly occluded the sun, whoops broke out across town.