re: #137 ipsos

“Multiple”?

1979 in the Pacific NW.

2017 from Oregon to SC.

That’s it in the past 50 years, and I know because I am 52, dreamed through my whole childhood of seeing a total solar eclipse, and finally realized the dream by driving to Kentucky in 2017.

Next month’s eclipse is especially exciting for me because I don’t have to go anywhere. Here in Rochester we’ve been planning since 2017 for a massive multi-day party and for an influx of what could be half a million visitors, since we’re the easiest and closest large destination along the path of totality for NYC, Philly and most of the Eastern Seaboard.

And yes, that includes closing the schools that day, because totality hits just after 3 PM and nobody wants the kids stuck in traffic on school buses when it happens. (I’m currently fighting with the pompous authoritarian asshole who runs my district, because he thinks he can run a half day that morning and somehow get the kids home and he doesn’t understand what the local traffic planners see coming in the hours before totality.)

After this? No total eclipses in the continental US until 2044, and then another long gap from 2052 until the 2070s.

All of which is to say, yeah, it’s a VERY big deal, just in a positive way, not in a “OMG stock up on toilet paper and canned soup” fear way.

We flew out to Idaho for the 2017 eclipse. Ended up viewing it in some animal sanctuary that had a lot of bears and other wildlife. It was interesting hearing/seeing animal reactions when totality hit.
Looking forward to the April 8th eclipse.