Eclipse watching

Wearing their helmets, JLB Welding & Repair welders shield their eyes from the burning radiation of a solar eclipse during their lunch hour Monday. The guys — from the left, Jeremy King, Mike Zuniga, Kyle Parker and Dale Brunswick — were impressed by the "fingernail" of the moon traveling across the sun, both visible through their helmets. But changes in the immediate environment were not so dramatic and dynamic. The men noticed the temperature dropped a bit and the clouds seemed to be in sharper contrast against the sky; it was just a little hazy, but it didn't get as dark as they thought it might. "Hmmm, epic … ," Mike said, turning back to a welding job. The street lights turned on in McCook proper. True eclipse chasers would have needed to travel at least 100 miles north of McCook, to Tryon or Stapleton, to find an almost-dark-as-night mid-day.