The lighter side of the Capitol, usually.

Eclipse happy!

The Colorado House had a long list of third reading votes to wrap up on Monday, but ECLIPSE! The solution? Ask for a bill to be read at length so they could go out on the west patio and watch the eclipse. (H/T to Seth Klamann at the Post for this one). 

Everyone got into the act.

Over in the Senate, a wolverine that is camped on the desk of Sen. Perry Will got its own eclipse sunglasses.

The governor got a look, too.

Best picture of the day, from Edie Busam, of her four grandchildren, ranging in ages from 7 to 12, and camped out in a front yard in Indiana, waiting for the totality.

You didn’t think the press corps would miss out on this, did you?

Last, but definitely not least, Sen. Will…

But Josh Bly, the comms guy for the Senate GOP, had his own take on Eclipse Monday:

The birds and the butterflies strike back!

A recent hearing in the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee reviewed a bill to add invertebrates (butterflies, bees, mollusks or sponges, for example) as well as certain rare plant species to the list of things that ought to be conserved by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The April 3 hearing had an unexpected witness that flew in especially for the hearing: a bee. It flew into the committee room through an open window and stung a lobbyist.

Would that be viewed as expressing an opinion about the bill? The lobbyist?

At least one committee member, Sen. Jessie Danielson, had her own opinion: “damn pollinators!” she joked.

“They’re making a comeback!” said chair Sen. Dylan Roberts.

The sponsor, Sen. Janice Marchman, explained that invertebrates don’t have a spine and that includes mollusks and sponges.

And “legislators!” quipped co-sponsor Sen. Jeff Bridges.