Facebook is lit up with everyone frantically saying "Where can I buy eclipse glasses?!" and I am not all that interested. I get that it is an exciting scientific phenomena and all but I just can't work up any enthusiasm for a few minutes of darkness during the day tomorrow.
Tomorrow afternoon it will be 91 degrees here, and partly cloudy. With 30-60% cloud cover, there may not be much of the eclipse to see, even if one is standing outside and looking up..
I remember the 1984 solar eclipse really well because I was in college and my Creative Writing teacher took us all up to the roof of the building and we looked at the eclipse. I don't remember if we had "glasses" or not, in all honesty. I remember wondering why it was such a big deal. My Writing teacher was Coleman Barks, who has since become pretty famous as the poet who re-introduced the west to the poetry of Rumi. I love Coleman -- a unique and brilliant man. I talked to him on the phone almost ten years ago when I was looking for a publisher for my first book, and he remembered me and was very encouraging.
According to the 11 Alive story about how Atlantans acted that May eclipse day in 1984, "Adults shared moon pies and moonshine with each other." Only in the South, y'all.
Of course, if you're scratching your head trying to remember it, FYI, that 1984 eclipse was only visible here in the Southeast.
We are not in the direct path of the eclipse here in Atlanta (only about 97%) but folks in North Georgia are, and the traffic heading up there was horrific on Friday, as the local news reported. They interviewed a lady who drove down from Maine to see it. Probably the last time she will ever come to Georgia in August, unless she likes 90 degree temps with 90% humidity.
Part of my disinterest may be due to the lingering virus I am still dealing with. Felt okay last Thursday and Friday and then yesterday I felt horrible all day - headache, chills, nausea. Today, just feel listless. Sinuses are acting up. Feels like I have the flu. Doctor tested everything and pronounced me fine last Tuesday except for the blood test which indicated I have a virus. To add to the fun it's like 95 degrees here today. Michael is at the grocery store for me, thank goodness.
There was an eclipse in 1979 and I have absolutely no memory of it. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out why I have no memory of it. Finally, I read the article about it. it was only visible in the Pacific Northwest. DUH.
Talked to my brother last night. He is even less enthusiastic about the eclipse than I am. He is working all day tomorrow. I asked him if Columbia is in the direct path and he didn't even know. It is. There is a website about it. It notes: "Throughout the long weekend of August 18-21, 2017, attractions, cultural institutions, hospitality and retail businesses in Columbia, S.C. – the total solar eclipse capital of the East Coast – will host more than 120 special eclipse-related events leading up to and during nature's grandest spectacle." My brother will not be attending any of those events, I can promise you.
We come from a family that tends to take weather and scientific phenomena pretty casually. My father always said "I never let the weather make my decisions for me." Of course, he lived in the south all of his life so there were only a few times the weather was even interesting. He would show up to work even if there were 12 feet of snow on the ground. He thought staying home was for sissies, and I don't think he ever did. One time he had to park his car a good ways from the house, when he and Mom lived on the lake and it was snowing like crazy, but he had been at work all day. He used to call me up early in the morning on snow days and say "Be outside in 20 minutes. I'm picking you up and you're going to work." We worked in the same building for 6 years. I never missed work due to snow, even though I wanted to! Knoxville usually shuts down and everyone stays home when it snows, just like Atlanta. I was usually the only female in the office, though, on those snow days. I learned every single job at the office because of that, well, except for actually being an attorney...
I was fascinated to learn that the next solar eclipse is not until 2045. I will be 83 years old, if I am still alive. Right now, my mother is 83 years old. My son will be almost 50, which is hard to imagine.
I plan to keep Lola inside tomorrow and watch out the window, see what my backyard looks like during an eclipse. I am not planning on looking up because I don't have any eclipse glasses. I will watch the news later and see it, though.
I don't let eclipses make my decisions for me...