The Great Eclipse

On Monday, August 21st at approximately 2:38 pm my little city will be in the dark. We are one of the cities along the, cue the thunder, “PATH OF TOTALITY”.

Our hotels, and we got a lot of hotels, are sold out. Want to get a dinner reservation Sunday night? Nope. How about lunch on Monday? Nada. Our Police Chief said we will have 100 officers on duty Monday to handle traffic, crowd control and management. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? To me it sounds like we are preparing for the end of the world.

Our local television station even posted a “Planning for your family” list;

• Buy groceries and fill your car up with gas before the weekend
• Refill prescriptions ahead of time so you will have needed medication on hand
• Determine how you will communicate if cell service is down
• Identify a meeting location in case you get separated from one another

Holy shit! What in the world do they think is going to happen? Have Donald Trump and Steve Bannon figured out a way to hijack the sun? Hold it for ransom unless we drop the Russian investigation?

I remember the last one in 1979. I was in high school and the Principal had all of the students gather out on the football practice field. Me and my friends had a better idea. We went out to the woods and smoked a joint. Then it got dark, real dark. And then we freaked out, stoned, in the woods, the very dark woods. Oh the fun things you get yourself into as an eighteen year old.

I won’t be partaking in the ganja this time, but I do plan on having a cold Left Hand Stout or two, or three in my backyard with my wife and daughter and son in-law who are driving up for the, cue the thunder, “PATH OF TOTALITY”.

The next two Great Eclipses will be in 2024 and 2045. I don’t know where I will be or if I will still be walking on the face of this earth but come Monday I will be ready, car gassed up, cell phone charged, with plenty of cold beer and snacks. Happy Great Eclipse Day everyone!

NASA Total Eclipse 2017