An awesome event, hidden by clouds

The greatest show on Earth — well, actually, in the heavens — united us mere mortals for a couple of hours Monday, as a stunning solar eclipse was enjoyed across America’s path of totality, from Oregon through South Carolina. In Hawaii, thick cloud cover made for a so-so viewing of a partial eclipse, which at its best would’ve shown just one-third of the sun blocked by the moon. But live-TV watchers were treated to stellar coverage of the total eclipse as it migrated across — and momentarily threw into darkness — prime sites such as Salem, Ore.; Casper, Wyo.; then Charleston, S.C. For those awed by this rare event, take note: The next total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be in seven years, but the next coast-to-coast one won’t come until 2045.

At least the gardens at Manoa campus are beautiful

So, House Beautiful thinks the University of Hawaii at Manoa is Campus Beautiful. Naturally, it’s always at least a tiny point of pride to make these ubiquitous honor rolls that populate the web. It may be necessary to lift the rose-colored glasses in this case, however.

One of the pieces of evidence offered in the article (808ne.ws/UHMcampus) was a photo of the lovely gardens by the East-West Center’s Jefferson Hall. That’s spectacular, but not really part of UH itself — which is more famous for its deferred maintenance.

So yes, the outdoors are nice. Inside the buildings: not so much.