Clouds usually aren’t a big deal.

But for one day in August, clouds threatened to muck up the most-anticipated celestial event of the year.

The Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse mesmerized the nation and drew visitors from around the globe as it traversed the width of the U.S. from the northwest to the southeast. It was the first to cross the entire continental United States since 1918.

Question from a Junction City reader: “After the eclipse, there was an article in the paper that said there would be a place to recycle our eclipse glasses so they could be used again and not end up in the trash. Where can we recycle them?”

Event had an estimated economic impact of $127 million in Nebraska

LINCOLN — The day that the moon cast Nebraska into darkness proved a bright spot for the state’s economy.

The Aug. 21 solar eclipse had an estimated $127 million economic impact from lodging and travel spending across the state, according to a study done for the Nebraska Tourism Commission.

The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh is collecting eclipse glasses now through Oct. 1 for Astronomers Without Borders.

The international program works on efforts to make it possible for everyone to enjoy the wonders of the night sky and other events, according to its website. To see a solar eclipse, viewers must use eclipse glasses or risk serious eye damage and even blindness. But, for many in the developing world, glasses are too expensive to purchase.

I decided to write this week about the first day of the school year for the Greenwich Public School System, which is Thursday. Until my husband pointed out I couldn’t write about something I had yet to experience.

“Yes but I know the whole back-to-school deal, the mixed emotions, the new backpacks,” I responded. “I have been through many back-to-school routines already. I know what to expect.”

But, as usual, Ian had landed on some kind of annoying fundamental truth.

I’m wondering about the price of a plane ticket to Argentina.

My preoccupation with Buenos Aires — and its upcoming date with a total solar eclipse —began shortly after 1:02 p.m. last Monday, as I gazed upward in anticipation of totality, only to find God had called in the clowns.

I mean clouds.

Excuse me? America’s Celestial Event of the Century and my viewing spot was jinxed by an upper-level disturbance at T-minus 2 minutes?

With hordes of visitors coming to South Carolina last week to catch the solar eclipse but too few hotels to lodge them, homeowners earned millions of dollars renting their homes to the star-gazing travelers.

The solar eclipse swept across the United States along a narrow path from coast to coast in a remarkable display on Aug. 21, to the amazement of millions of people.

CLEMSON — At lunch time on Monday, the Clemson football team was eating lunch when Dabo Swinney turned on an educational film via the dining facility's flatscreen television.

The solar eclipse was about two hours away, and Swinney wanted his Clemson football players to be informed.

I was among the droves of people who hit the road for the solar eclipse earlier this week. Here's my when, how, why and "what the —?" of that experience.

8 months before eclipse

October 2016: Co-workers Lisa and Steve are geeking out over the solar eclipse coming August 21, 2017. They're reading websites, researching "path of totality" charts, and booking hotel rooms in Nebraska. I decide I want in on this action.

The solar eclipse brought large crowds to both Scotts Bluff National Monument and Legacy of the Plains Museum.

The Scotts Bluff National Monument saw a large increase in the number of visitors over the weekend, likely due to the influx of people visiting western Nebraska for the 2017 Great American Eclipse.

Ranger Lesley Gaunt didn’t have final numbers, but the approximations clearly show more visitors than normal.

Pocatello residents Troy and Lauren Johnson had their firstborn child, Olivia Rose Johnson, at 12:08 p.m. on Monday at Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello. The birth occurred just 35 minutes after the 2017 solar eclipse reached 100 percent totality throughout parts of Idaho.By Shelbie Harris, sharris@journalnet.comPOCATELLO — Thousands of people watched the moon temporarily block the sun on Monday during the 2017 Great American Eclipse, but Lauren Johnson did not because she was lying in a Portneuf Medical Center bed giving birth to her daughter, Olivia Rose.

It was just two minutes of darkness.

But for some, it was months or years in the making and a memory that will last a lifetime. Visitors and locals gathered on top of peaks, along highways in national parks and forests and in Town Square to watch as the moon slid in front of the sun and plunged the valley into a peaceful, yet eerie, dusk.

The Great American Eclipse may be over, but knowing Fort Wayne's proximity to the 2024 total solar eclipse has prompted one college professor to collect the protective eyewear that allowed people to witness Monday's celestial spectacle.

Whether through schools, public viewing parties, retailers and places such as Science Central, thousands of eclipse glasses were sold or distributed citywide for the partial eclipse, likely leaving many wondering whether the glasses are more than a keepsake.

Believe it or not, solar eclipses on Earth aren’t particularly rare events. In fact, they happen about once every 18 months or so somewhere on the globe. But a solar eclipse coming through your own state? That is rare, and it’s worth our attention – and a little drive to get into the path of totality!<br /> <br /> We’ve known about the eclipse for more than a year and began planning in earnest about eight months ago, scoping out potential locations and deciding how we wanted to bring...

Huffman resident Enell Cooper gazed skyward through a pair of solar eclipse glasses just outside the entrance to Harris County Public Library Crosby-Edith Fae Cook Cole Branch in Crosby.

Spectators gathered across the Courierarea on Monday to view the solar eclipse. Several organizations held viewing parties with music, food and, of course, eclipse glasses. More than 200 people watched from Clifty Falls State Park and Bicentennial Park downtown where free glasses were handed out. Between both locations, 450 of the glasses were available. Over the course of about two hours, eclipse-watchers soaked up a little sunshine as they spread across the grass, taking peeks at the celestial event. As light dimmed and temperatures dipped slightly, watchers settled into their spots to take in the solar eclipse in about 90 percent totality. Some seemed disappointed, expecting complete darkness during the eclipse. Instead, it resembled an overcast day. The next total solar eclipse over America will be April 8, 2024, when it moves from Texas through the Midwest and further north.

PUHI — The first time Kauai Community College professor Dr. Michael Hannawald saw a solar eclipse, he was a little boy growing up in Germany.

While he wasn’t able to see the totality of the solar eclipse Monday morning at KCC, he was still able to provide students from KCC and Island School an opportunity to view the eclipse at a party he organized.

BULLHEAD CITY — Steve Sterk works for NASA. If he were to give you advice about viewing a solar eclipse it would be smart to take it.

Though it was somewhat exaggerated for a young audience, it was still wise: Don’t look up at the sun without special solar filter glasses.

Keith lay across the curb and concrete. Then he stood and walked over by the trees and looked up. Then he turned to his left, and to his right. The young elementary student did everything he possibly could to take in a historical moment as he joined millions across the country gazing at the first solar eclipse in almost four decades.

"I'm having fun," little Keith Vollert told the Dayton News. "This is really cool!"

Whether you’re one of the millions of Americans planning to watch Monday’s total solar eclipse as it moves across the country or you’re hearing about it for the first time, here’s what you need to know:

As the moon inched closer to obscuring the afternoon sun, hundreds of people gathered Monday on the Allen County Public Library plaza to watch the Great American Eclipse.

Despite rationing efforts, the Fort Wayne Astronomical Society quickly distributed 400 pairs of eclipse glasses, but those without a pair weren't out of luck. Filtered telescopes and various projection methods : including a pegboard and pinhole devices : provided other ways to witness Mother Nature's spectacle.

HARLINGEN — Andy Miller trekked to his sister’s home in Western Kentucky to view the solar eclipse on a hill in her backyard.

“It was just incredible,” Miller said. “But it ended much too soon.”

He said Venus, Jupiter and the rings of Saturn were also viewable from where he was yesterday.

Monday's total solar eclipse brought people from all over the country to Aiken County.

Lindsey Asbill, with the Aiken County Visitors Center on Laurens Street, said the center welcomed an unusual amount of foot traffic before the eclipse.

"We saw a lot of people from all over the country," Asbill said. "There were some that came from Florida and New Jersey to see the eclipse."

The Visitors Center saw upward of 100 people prior to the eclipse Monday, she said.