Eclipse 2017

I made it to Kansas, and even with clouds and rain the experience did not disappoint. As is often the case, the video just doesn't do it justice. In fact, for my money, never before have the words "doesn't do it justice" been more appropriate than here and now.

Of course, social media blew up on the day of the event, so there's nothing posted here, really, that hasn't been posted/shared already someplace else. But I can't not post something about "The Great American Eclipse".  Seriously, a total eclipse of the sun is something everyone should see at least once in their life. This one was worth every long mile driven, every raindrop dodged.

This series of pictures was taken at 10 minute intervals, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Although it was sometimes difficult to discern what was the eclipse happening and what was merely cloud cover, they illustrate an unmistakable darkening of the sky in the last half hour before totality.

12:30 P.M.

12:40 P.M.

12:50 P.M.

1:00 P.M.

1:04 P.M.

1:06 P.M. Totality!

Three days before the "Great American Eclipse", and Mother Nature is threatening to be a cruel mistress

Oh my God, are you kidding me...?!

Here I am, three days before the "Great American Eclipse" (more to the point, two days before I drive 9 hours to view it). I'm packed up (well, mostly), got my camera, laptop, my official ISO-approved eclipse glasses (which I will be rocking the hell out of come Monday afternoon*)...I'm all set to travel, and fairly excited. After all, I've had this appointment for 38 years. 

Then I awake this morning to find Monday's weather forecast for the town I'm staying in has changed. For three weeks it's been exactly the same: "Clear, High of 88". But all of a sudden, it's altered: "Mix of clouds and sun, chance of afternoon thunderstorms...."

That was earlier.  It's changed yet again in just the last two hours: "Some clouds and an isolated thunderstorm in the afternoon..."

I'm pretty dismayed that the word "sun" has been removed completely from the official text. Like an outdoor wedding, company picnic, or chalk art festival, this celestial event is kind of dependent on good weather....or at least sunny weather.

Man, that figures.

Further investigation isn't making me feel any better. According to NJ.com's interactive map, created using National Weather Service forecast models to predict what geographical areas of the country are most likely to have clear the skies during the eclipse, the likelihood of clear skies in the area where I'm headed is currently listed as "Iffy".

*sigh...*...So figures.

No reason to panic just yet. Things can change on a dime. Maybe "some clouds" will play out as "partly cloudy". But acknowledging the strong possibility that it could just as easily translate into "mostly cloudy", I really have no choice but to begin considering a Plan B.

To that end, there's really just one alternative: drive.  Drive, and find a sunny spot. Go where the sun is, and the clouds aren't.

On the surface, I have no problem with that. If I have to head west early that morning, toward Colorado, in search a little patch of blue, I will. Driving long distances is nothing to me (truth be told, once I'm out on the road, I'll be resisting a small but potent urge to stay out there).

The trick, though, is that I have to stay within the path of totality. That's the whole reason I'm doing this. If I were okay viewing a partial eclipse, I wouldn't be bothering with a road trip at all. I'd just step outside in my bathrobe and check out what's going to be at least a 70 percent event where I live. (Although, on that same NJ.com interactive map, the likelihood of clear viewing in west-central Wisconsin is currently listed as "Poor".)

But no, I want to see the moon's fully monty, and I'm willing to trek further to make that happen without clouds getting in the way. But that means I have to do it along the 70-mile wide track where the moon's shadow will be complete. And that track does not follow a straight line, but rather bends across the country in a mild arc, which means I won't simply be able to head west toward Colorado, I'll have to head north-west (a little at a time) toward Wyoming.

Zig-zagging my way through Nebraska in a frenetic navigation of Interstates and county roads just to keep within the path of totality could turn into an exercise in frustration really fast. And truth be told, if a storm front happens to sweep across the nation's midsection overnight Sunday and keeps the whole area under cloud cover Monday, I'll pretty much be sunk. I'll only be able to drive so far before having to head back. I mean, come on, I don't want to be stuck calling into work on Tuesday from Washington State....or South Carolina (if I head east).

Er, do I...? ;-)

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When viewing the eclipse, make sure you protect your eyes. Granted, you'll have to go out in public with something like these on, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to see afterward? (Besides, don't these puppies scream "Hollywood"?  ;-)

Mini-road trip in the works to fully enjoy the "Great American Eclipse"...

So, for a variety of reasons, most of which have to do with money, some of which have to do with laziness, I simply wasn't able to make 1/48/50 happen this summer. I guess I never really thought I'd be able to (damn it, I have to start planning seriously at some point...), but I imagined it would be nice to be out and fully nebulous for the "Great American Eclipse", which will happen just over a week from now, August 21, when the moon passes in front of the sun directly over the continental United States for the first time in 38 years.

It's too bad 1/48/50 couldn't happen, but I'm taking a drive nevertheless. The eclipse will be partially visible where I live, but I'm seeking out the "path of totality", which, yes, sounds like the title of some prog band's concept album, but is actually the narrow strip of the moon's shadow (or umbra) that will create complete darkness for a few spell-binding minutes.

It wasn't easy to find a hotel room. All along that path of totality (which traverses 11 states, from Oregon to South Carolina), hotels, resorts, inns and B&B's have been booked solid for months, but I was lucky to find a place right near the Nebraska/Kansas border, and for a low rate too.

Of course, I'm hoping "low rate" doesn't come with complementary fleas and bed bugs. :-/

Weather also is a potential problem. The area I'm driving to isn't known for long stretches of cloudy days this time of year, but it is known for thunderstorms. The eclipse starts around 11 a.m., with totality taking place at 1:00 p.m., hopefully before any storms start popping off.

Right now the forecast for the town I'm staying in on August 21: "Clear, high of 88, low of 60." I'm sure hoping that holds.

50/50 - Map showing probability of clear skies on August 21, 2017, during the "Great American Eclipse". My search for the "path of totality" will bring me down to the Nebraska/Kansas/Missouri region, where, judging by the map key, there seems to be a fifty/fifty chance of cloudy skies raining on the moon's parade.  Image: Joshua Stevens/NASA

But hey, whatever happens - fleas, bedbugs or inclement weather - no regrets. Truth is, I'll drive wherever I have to for clear skies, and sleep in my car if need be.

I've more or less been planning this road trip for 38 years.

SUMMER PROJECT: Whole Albums to Travel By

Those rare musical treasures that require no song-to-song cherry picking, no fast forwarding (for those 35-plus who know what that is...), no selective exclusion from playlists. They are their OWN playlists...each a greatest hits package of brand new material, still fresh even decades on from their release. You know...desert island albums. 

In the case of 1/48/50, whole urban areas, entire counties, fully one half of any state even, may be traversed on the power of a single inspired album playing all the way through.

So good, in fact, they require no two cents thrown in by the likes of me.  Just listen.  ;-)

"The Beatles / 1962-1966" by The Beatles

A compilation album, but proof positive that while The Beatles' ultimate greatness came later in their too-short career, the groundwork for that greatness was being laid (and evident) in "Love Me Do"'s first wheezing harmonica note.

"The Very Best of CCR" by Credence Clearwater Revival

Again, I know it's a greatest hits package, but honestly, it might be the greatest "greatest hits package" ever released.