‘I can’t unsee this’: What a sight in Texas!

GEORGETOWN, Texas – “I will never unsee this,” said Ahmed Husseim of Austin, who had the eclipse on his calendar for a year.

Husseim and his family were among hundreds who gathered on the lawn of Southwestern University, north of the Texas capital city of Austin, with blankets, lawn chairs and country music to experience the total eclipse.

Fears of missing the astronomical event were put to rest when skies cleared moments before totality and remained cloudless until the eclipse continued on its path.

“It was unreal, taking off the glasses and not sure what to expect but when you look at it, it was like out of a movie,” said Michael Islas, a junior at the university.

MESQUITE, Texas – Just east of Dallas, the hundreds gathered at Mesquite’s Front Street Station cheered and whistled as the clouds parted in the final minutes before totality.

As the sun finally became cloaked, the crowd grew louder. They whipped off their eclipse glasses to soak in the unforgettable view of the sun’s corona, or spiky outer atmosphere, and Venus shining brilliantly off to the right.

DJ Jesse Navarette turned off his eclipse-themed music as the big moment approached.

“Wow, what a sight to witness, you all,” he told the crowd.

Aiyana Brown, 14, watched alongside her grandfather, Mesquite Mayor Daniel Aleman Jr.

“Oh God, it’s so dark,” Aiyana marveled.

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DALLAS – Emergency lights clicked on outside D.A. Hulcy Middle School as the last sliver of the sun disappeared. Students cheered and whooped, sitting on towels and picnic blankets in an adjacent parking lot.

“I’m a new person,” eighth grader Nia Modkins said.

Students and teachers took off their eclipse glasses and pointed at the sky, taking pictures and videos. Once three minutes elapsed, their teachers told them to put their eclipse glasses back on as the sun prepared for its return act.

Once daylight swept over the parking lot again, eighth grader Sky Johnson swiped through her phone, looking for the video she’d taken during totality.

“Two minutes of me screaming, literally,” she said.

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