Here Comes the Moon: The Total Eclipse, Eclipse in History and The Corona in Art

We are less than one week away from August 21st, 2017, when a lucky or determined portion of the world's population will be treated to one of the greatest sights in nature: a total solar eclipse. I have been researching and reading about this for well over a year and I wanted to put that information together in one place so here it is:

The first and most important part of advice is that 100% Totality is the goal. That is the amazing once in a lifetime moment that people have been talking about. 99% is not anything close to 100%. I have seen it put best by one of the members of on eclipse travel group that I joined when he said matching 5 numbers in the lotto is good. Matching all 6 is life changing! If you can get to the path of Totality, people are traveling across the ocean and driving thousands of miles for this, it is worth it!

A solar eclipse happens when the Moon comes in between the Sun and Earth.

The Earth's diameter is 7,917.5 miles wide, the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles wide, and the Sun's diameter is 864,575.9 miles wide. The distance between the Earth and Moon is 238,900 miles and the distance between the Earth and Sun  is 92.96 million miles (or 8 light minutes.)

Those are large numbers that are hard to wrap your minds around . . . like trying to imagine 100 otters on a plane (thank you John Finnemore*). So let's scale this down a bit.

If the Earth had a 1 inch diameter the Moon would only have a 1/4 inch diameter since it is roughly one quarter the size of the Earth. Now between the Earth and the Moon you can fit 30 Earths. Which means with the 1 inch and 1/4 sized bodies the two would be 30 inches away from each other.

Now to add the Sun into this imagine the Earth was a little larger and had a 4 inch diameter. In order to keep the correct scale the Moon would now have an inch diameter. At that size the two should be 120 inches away from each other. The Sun would be the size of a three story building and would be half a mile away.

Seems impossible right? Something as small as a 1 inch in diameter Moon will be able to block the entire three story sun. Pick a spot in the distance of wherever you are (maybe something large across the room from you). Hold up your thumb like you are giving someone the thumbs up sign, straighten your arm, and hold your thumb in front of your face. Now slowly move your thumb back towards your face as your thumb gets closer to you it will cover more and more of the chosen object. Once it gets to the correct distance it will completely cover the object. That is how a solar eclipse happens.

Now I wrote that the solar eclipse happens when the Moon travels between the Sun and Earth. But we all know the Moon orbits the Earth and one lunar cycle is 29 days. So there is a point every month when the moon is positioned in such a way as to be between the Earth and Sun. But a solar eclipse doesn't happen every month. Why is that? The answer is the Moon's orbit is at a 5 degree tilt. Because of this tilt most times when the Moon crosses between the Sun and Earth the Moon's shadow will fall above or below the Earth. It has to be at a particular point in orbit in order for the shadow to land on the Earth.

Now there are two types of solar eclipse. There is the partial/total eclipse that we will be experiencing on Monday and there is an annular eclipse.

Annular gets its name from the latin word anulus which means ring. It is named that because the most famous moment of that type of eclipse is the 'ring of fire'.

sciencealert.com

Now not only is the Moon orbiting the Earth at a 5 degree tilt but it also follows an elliptical path so at some points the Moon and Earth are closer to each other (perigee, or 221,000 miles) and at other points they are further (apogee, or 252,000 miles).  Remember before with your thumb? If the Moon is too far away from the Earth it will be too small to cover the Sun. It has to be at the closest point in its orbit in order to be able to cover the Sun and cause a total eclipse.

The entire contiguous states will experience at least a partial eclipse as we fall under the penumbral shadow of the moon. Only a 70 mile wide band will fall under the umbral shadow and experience Totality. This band will go from coast to coast starting in Oregon and leaving the land in South Carolina. The Moon's shadow will take 100 minutes to travel the entire distance of the states and touch 14 different states. Less than 1% of Earth's surface will be under this band. That is how rare it is to have one so close. A lot of times these eclipses will take place over an ocean or in a less densely populated (or unpopulated area).

Greatamericaneclipse.com

Now some important dates for US solar eclipses:

The last time a solar eclipse travelled from coast to coast in America was 1918.
The last time a total solar eclipse passed through the 48 lower states was Feb 26th, 1979.
The last time a total solar eclipse touched the USA at all was July 11th, 1991, when an eclipse passed over Hawaii.
The last time a total eclipse passed over TN (my home state) was August 7th, 1869.
The last time a total solar eclipse passed over Nashville, TN (where I am) was in 1478.
On average it takes 375 years for the same location to repeat.

Now before I start trying to describe what will be experienced during Totality I need to take a moment to mention eye safety. We all know not to look at the Sun we live our daily lives constantly managing to not blind ourselves by the Sun. But an eclipse is a novelty. You don't have pain receptors in your retina so you will not feel pain if you injure your retina and the damage may take a few hours to develop. So you may try and take a quick glimpse at the Sun and think that wasn't so bad. Maybe look around and realize you are seeing normal so be emboldened to look again this time for longer. It's a false sense of safety. You could be doing damage and not know it. Never never never never never look at the Sun. There are safe ways to view the eclipse. For example several companies have been producing eclipse glasses that meet the requirement of ISO12312-2 filter for direct observation of the Sun. Even wearing those glasses you should look for three minutes max and then give yourself a break. You can also use shade 14 welding glass. However if you don't have either of those things by now you will have a hard time finding them.

There are other methods for watching the partial phase of the eclipse. For one you could watch it reflected in the water. The water will cut down glare enough to make it safe to look and you would see in the reflection as the Moon's disk covers more and more of the Sun. You could also use something as simple as a colander and watch through the pinholes made from shadows on the ground. Even the shadows of tree leaves will begin to be crescent shaped as the Sun is covered up. But you only need these methods and tools for the partial phase. If you are in the path of Totality you will not need anything to view the total eclipse.

Now I get to the real fun part! Describing what we can expect to experience during the three hours of eclipse.  First there are 4 important moments C1, C2, C3, C4.

C1- First Contact. This is when the Moon's disk first begins to cover the Sun. This is the start of the partial eclipse and you need your glasses to view the Sun directly. Now at first you won't notice anything and in fact a partial eclipse could pass without you ever noticing it. I remember in NY in 1994 thinking I should do something, make a pinhole projector with paper plates,  to see the eclipse but I never actually did do that. This phase lasts for a little under an hour and a half as more and more of the Sun is covered. Eventually you will begin to notice some darkening and the shadows will begin to change like I wrote before you will see mini-eclipses in the the trees shadows. Nature will begin to react as well. Birds will begin night songs and head back to their nests, crickets will start to chirp, larger animals may begin acting like it is night. I am performing an experiment of my own. I bought a Morning Glory vine and a Moon Vine. The Morning Glory opens in the morning with the Sun and closes at night. The Moon Vine is the opposite. I am going to try and see (if I have blooms on them) if the plants will react to the partial and total eclipse.

You also may notice a change in the temperature as it could drop on average 5 degrees. Also the wind may change directions. This is called Eclipse Wind and was noted by Edmund Halley during the 1715 eclipse when he described, "a chill and damp that brought some sense of horror to the spectators." The cause of Eclipse Wind was not fully known and verified until March 20th, 2015. when during a partial eclipse over the UK researchers from the University of Reading and 4,500 citizen scientists took detailed notes and information about changes in the temperature and wind. Analysis of the data showed that Eclipse Wind was caused by changes in the boundary layer,  the area of air that separates high-level winds from the ground. Giles Harrison, one of the University researchers stated, "warm air stops rising from the ground, causing a drop in wind speed and a shift in its direction."

Another phenomenon that will be experienced in the last 90 seconds of the partial phase is called Shadow Bands. I have to admit I have been obsessed with them ever since I learned of them from a video by a blogger:

Smarter Every Day Youtube Channel

Now these are not seen or reported with every eclipse perhaps because so many people are busy looking up in that last minute that they do not look. The Shadow Bands are described as thin wavy lines that look like snakes which undulate on plain surfaces. They have also been referred to as Diffusion Bands. I assume it has something to do with the Earth's atmosphere causing some kind of interference and the way light is seen through it but I don't know. And neither does NASA right now. If you go to their website you will see a list of questions such as:
Do the shadow bands move in the same direction across an area?
Do they move parallel or perpendicular to the direction of the sun?
Do they follow the geographic direction of the wind?
Do they maintain the same speed?
What is the distance between the bands as they move?
How does intensity change?

Just like in 2015 when ordinary citizen scientists observed the wind and helped researchers give the cause maybe through many observations scientists can get some answers about these Shadow Bands?

Now I just put up a white vinyl fence around my property so I am hoping that I will be able to capture the Shadow Bands on video. We will see.

Now we are at the point where Totality is seconds away. The Sun is almost completely covered by the Moon and the phenomenon called Bailey's beads occurs. This is named for Francis Bailey an astronomer who first described the beads during the May 15th, 1836, eclipse. They look like a string of red beads of light around the Moon's disk and that is light coming through the craters of the Moon's uneven surface.

Fred Espenak www.Mreclipse.com

Fred Espenak www.Mreclipse.com

Immediately following the beads is what is called the Diamond Ring effect when the Sun's light is focused through the last crater of the Moon and flashes out looking like the diamond on a ring.

Fred Espenak www.Mreclipse.com

Immediately after that is C2- Totality! Now if you are not in the specific band that will be able to see the total eclipse then what would happen now is more and more of the sun would return to sight as the Moon's disk passes over the Sun. If, like me and countless others, you are in or have travelled to the path of Totality then you will be able to see the Corona or Crown of the Sun.

The Corona is a hot outer layer of the Sun described as a white/silver/blue light given off by the Sun that can only be seen during a total eclipse because normally the Sun is so bright. It has been described to look like a cross emitting from the Sun or resembling the wings of a bird. This is an amazing moment. In videos you hear people cheering at the moment. It's been described as overwhelming. I'm pretty sure I will cry.

Fred Espenak www.MrEclipse.com

Just like the 2015 eclipse gave researchers an opportunity to measure and record changes in the wind this eclipse is going to give researchers an amazing opportunity to study the Corona. You can count on the fact that during the entire 100 minutes that the Moon's shadow crosses the US the Corona will be recorded by photographs and video. Changes in the strength, duration, and direction of the emitted light will be noted.

Also visible during the Total portion of the eclipse will be the night sky . .. . except it will be during the day :-) planets and stars will be visible! Once the Sun is covered Venus will become the brightest object in the sky. Fainter and harder to find will be Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury. Also you may be able to pick out bright stars like Capella, Sirius, and Betelgeuse. Here is an image from Sky and Telescope Magazine as to what the sky above Hopkinsville will look like.

Sky and Telescope Magazine

Now the Sun has been quiet lately but you could see red flames extend out from the Sun. These are Solar Prominences. Also at the height of Totality if you look around you may see a 360 degree sunset around your horizon. If you are up high in mountains you could potentially see the Moon's shadow actually racing towards you.

If you are in Hopkinsville, KY you will have the longest time of Totality so 2:44 to enjoy all you can of this amazing sight.

Now we reach C3- Residual and the whole thing repeats in reverse. The Diamond Ring will flash, Bailly's Beads will reappear, Shadow Bands will wiggle around on the ground, and the lighting and temperature will return to normal over the course of an hour and a half and then it will be C4 and the eclipse will be over.

Now that is what we know about Solar Eclipses today. But in ancient times (well and not so ancient times) the Solar eclipse was viewed very differently. It wasn't until the 1700's that people started looking to an eclipse as a moment to be viewed and travelled too. For many ancient cultures the eclipse was a  cause of anxiety. It was a bad omen or sign of trouble yet to come. They feared the eclipse. That was a fear like many fears born from a lack of knowledge. They couldn't explain it, didn't understand it, and it was jarring. Night in the middle of day! It is still jarring to some people today and that is knowing what we know now. An eclipse brought a feelings of fear and foreboding but it is that fear and foreboding that has lead to modern astronomy as we know it today.

Most of the myths and stories told by ancient cultures to explain the eclipse are violent, many involving something eating the sun. This was a way of explaining what was not understood. For example the Pomo tribe word for eclipse means "Sun got bit by Bear". A bear was walking on a journey and began to fight with the Sun. As the two fought the bear bit the Sun causing the eclipse. In Vietnam a giant frog, or evil spirit described as a frog, tries to eat the Sun. For the people of Mongolia it was a dragon called Arapto who tried to eat the Sun. In ancient Korea a king from far away sent a dog, Bulgae, to capture the Sun and Moon. The dog tried to bite the Sun and discovered it too hot. He tried to bite the Moon and discovered it was too cold. He returned to his master empty handed but was sent back out again to continue and try and catch them.

The ancient Norse believed the Sun and Moon were two entities named Sol and Mani who travelled across the sky in horse drawn chariots. They were constantly chased by sky wolves called Skoll and Hati. An eclipse would happen when the sky wolves caught one of the two. If the wolves ever caught and ate both of them it would signal the beginning of Ragnarok.

In some stories the gods were fighting with each other like the story told by the Inuit of the Arctic where the sun goddess Malina was fighting with her brother the moon god Annigan. As she walked away from the fight he chased after her and when he catches her there is a solar eclipse.

Ancient India combined eating and fighting with their particularly gruesome eclipse story. The god Brahma told the other gods and a group of super-humans (asura) that at the bottom of the ocean was a potion that would grant anyone who drank it immortal life. The catch was that the two groups had to work together in order to reach it since neither group had the ability on their own. Well it took a few tries but eventually with the aid of a tree and a mountain they were able to recover the potion. Now the god Vishnu decided to try and trick the asuras so that the gods could have the potion all to themselves. Vishnu disguised himself as a beautiful maiden and had the two groups each form a line so that the potion could be distributed evenly. However while the asuras were distracted he began to only give the potion to the gods. One of the asura, Swarbhanu, realized the trick and joined the line of gods. Vishnu handed him the potion and he very quickly began to drink. The Sun and Moon realize the deception and try to warn Vishnu. So Vishnu becomes enraged and cuts of Swarbhanu's head. However Swarbhanu had already begun drinking the potion so his head became immortal while his body died. Now his immortal head chases the Sun and Moon seeking revenge. When he catches them he eats them. But being only a head with no body they fall out his neck and take their place back in the sky.

The stories however aren't always violent. According to the Aborigines of Australia the Sun is a woman and the Moon an man. When they come together in an embrace there is an eclipse.

Behind every story is a little bit of truth. The myths show that even the ancients understood there was some kind of celestial movement causing the eclipse. There was something in that motion that couldn't be explained and so was attributed to gods or other powerful beings but the idea of the Sun and Moon embracing shows movement.  But there was knowledge that they lacked. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) hadn't put forth his evidence for a heliocentric universe. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) hadn't yet discovered his laws of planetary motion including the fact that planets followed an elliptical orbit. Newton hadn't published his Theory of Gravitation (1687), Edmund Halley hadn't yet used Newton's theory of gravitation in 1715 to prove Kepler's planetary motion and Einstein hadn't improved on all of that yet with his study of Relativity (1915) and spacetime.

Those discoveries of modern astronomy and physics have their roots in the fear and anxiety that solar eclipses caused ancient civilizations. The ancients didn't have those answers so they had to make them up. The ancient Indians tracked the progression of the Sun, Moon, and five visible planets (Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn) and then they added the paths of Rahu and Ketu (the head and body of Swarbhanu) called dark planets because there was something they could not explain in the movements of the bodies they observed.

Because the ancients so feared the eclipse they needed to learn how to protect or strengthen themselves from whatever was to follow. And in order to protect themselves they needed to know when they would happen. The Ancient Babylonians would substitute someone for their king before an eclipse in hopes that whatever bad omen the eclipse foretold would befall him and not the real king. For months sometimes the impostor would dress, act, and eat as if he were the true king. So how did they know when to pick a new substitute for the king?  Through their observations they discovered a pattern called the Saros Cycle, a period of just over 18 years (6,583.3 days to be exact). Any two eclipses separated by one Saros cycle will share a similar geometric.

The Saros cycle is also seen in works by the ancient Indians and ancient Chinese. While it didn't allow them to know the cause of the eclipse it did allow them to recognize the pattern and therefore predict them... most of the time. There is an epitaph found in China to two astronomers which has been translated to:

"Here lies the body of Ho and Hi

Whose fate though sad is visible,

being hanged for they could not spy,

Th' eclipse which was invisible."

possibly referencing 2137 BC eclipse

The Ancient Chinese emperor would perform rituals and prepare special meals leading up to a solar eclipse. The people would bang drums and pots in order to try and scare away the dragon which was said to be trying to eat the sun, the word for eclipse means to eat. Astronomers would write statements or questions on Oracle Bones, pieces of bone or shell, and then place a hot bronze pin on them and read the cracks. One Oracle Bone that was discovered read:

"Three flames ate the sun, a big star was seen." June 15th, 1302 BC.

The three flames may refer to prominences from the sun and the star could have been any of the visible planets. By recognizing patterns the ancients were able to prepare and their preparations have left behind records that can be used today to not only build a better understanding of what they saw in the sky but overall history. In China there was a Chronology Project where experts in history, linguistics, archeology, and astronomy came together to try and discover exact dates of major events in history. For example there was a rough idea as to when the final battle between the Shang dynasty and the Zhou dynasty took place. But it was a span of 112 years. Using carbon dating on some Zhou pottery that time was condensed to 30 years. Then astronomical observations were used to discover the exact date of the battle and the birth of the Zhou Dynasty as Jan 20th, 1046 BC.

sample of an Oracle Bone

In another area of the world the Greeks were also using the pattern recognized in the Saros Cycle to predict eclipses. An artifact called the antikythera mechanism was found in a shipwreck. It was made up of a series of gears that would turn and keep track of the changing skies.

Antikythera mechanism

Thales of Miletus, a Greek philosopher and astronomer, has a story about him that says he fell down a well while star gazing, but it was worth it since he was able to use mathematics to predict the May 28th, 585 BC, eclipse.

Greek history is littered with references to Eclipses. During the Peloponnesian War Nicias was planning a retreat but stopped when an eclipse occurred. As a result Athens suffered a huge defeat to Sparta. Herodotus, Greek historian, noted that the 585 eclipse stopped a battle between the Lydians and Medes.

In Homer's Odyssey Theoclymenus warns that "The sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world." 300 years later Aristotle was quoted as saying, "If someone had said he had performed his ablutions in vain because the sun did not go into eclipse, he would be ridiculous. Solar eclipses are not what washing is for," 4th century BC

And on the other side of the world the Mayans made predictions that went beyond their civilization. They were off by only one day in a prediction for the July 11th 1991 eclipse.

Finally I have said that I have never seen Totality and that is true but I have seen many versions of the Corona and the eclipsed sun through art.

Sketch of 1800 corona

Image from 1991 eclispe
 

Both pictures show the Corona looking like the wings of a bird.

An image of the Corona looking like a cross in the sky, the possible inspiration for the Maltese Cross and the Egyptian symbol Ankh.


Nazca pottery shows the solar eye surrounded by emitted light of the corona.

 And this Nazca geoglyph shows the bird like wings from the side of the eclipsed sun and a tail.




A Steele found in Kalah, Iraq shows a winged sun with a cross in the center.

Now that you have read all of this if you are thinking, "man if only I had known sooner what this event was, how amazing it could be. If I had only known I would have taken off work or planned in a way to see it." I'm going to give you good news. We won't have to wait 375 years for another solar eclipse. On April 8th 2024 there will be another American eclipse. This one will travel from Texas to the north east. Not quite the amazing coast to coast action of this one but still a second chance for all those who decide that next time will be there time.

Also save your glasses on November 11th 2019 Mercury will transit the sun so you will need the glasses again!


* The reference is to a British radio program called Cabin Pressure written by John Finnemore and featuring the voices of John Finnemore, Benedict Cumberbatch, Roger Allam, and Stephanie Cole.

Resources:
Great American Eclipse for maps and general info
Mr. Eclipse for photography information
Eclipsophile for weather and climate information
Being in the Shadow psychologist and eclipse expert

Mercury Transit
The Mask of the Sun by John Dvorak
In the Shadow of the Moon Anthony Aveni

The best bad dog ever

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."- Roger Caras

A few months ago my Mom shared a post on Facebook about why we mourn the loss of pets, specifically dogs, so deeply. I read it but posted back quickly that I had no need of this post because Schultzy, our thirteen year old German Shepherd, had years left. After all she was "the Baby". And usually when we called her that it was followed by quoting the baby from the 90's TV show dinosaurs. You know the one that would always say "I'm the Baby; gotta love me."

I'm the baby

I was wrong. 

Meg and I got home from work late on July 4th and since the next night we were working overnight and didn't have to be back to  work until 6pm we decided to stay up late and watch a movie. Which is why at 1am we were on the couch in the living room while Schultzy sat chewing on her pacifier. Meghan noticed something wrong before I did. But it only took her a moment to realize what was happening. Schultzy was having a seizure. I jumped off the couch to try and keep her still. Meg began searching for the phone number of the emergency vet that our regular vet recommended in a previous conversation. Maybe it took her 2 minutes. Then she was on the phone with them telling them what was happening. They tried to figure out if there was some place closer to bring her but it was only a minute difference in time. Schultzy was still seizing. She would try to get up but couldn't. Her paws were stretched out locked at the elbows. Her brown eyes at some points seemed blood shot and would roll back and then return. A few times it seemed like it was stopping but then it would start up again. 

We folded up a quilt and lied it next to her. I was afraid we would not be able to get her up and into the car. But we were able to get her on the quilt and lift her. As we were walking out of the garage she bit the handle of a jug. It took almost a minute at least for Meg to get her to release. She also bit the blanket when it was close to her mouth. We got her in the back of the car and I sat back with her again trying to keep her calm. Meg began driving towards the vet. 

We both kept talking to her as I pet and rubbed her ears. She loved that, being pet behind the ears. And she always loved being spoken to. Even though we were pretty sure she was going deaf she still would react to us speaking to her. I'm sure she recognized facial expressions and probably some lip movements. She was very smart. She knew several hand commands and I don't think it was a stretch that she would recognize lip movements of words like a hand command. After all when we had begun spelling words that she knew like 'leash' and 'treat' she eventually recognized the spelling as the word. 

When we pulled into the parking lot the vet was ready with a wheeled table and they rushed her inside. By now the seizure had been going on for at the least 40 minutes. We knew. We knew in the car as we drove. We knew in the house when it didn't stop after five minutes. We knew. 

There is one thing in this world that Schultzy always wanted. And that was to be with us. She wanted to be in the room with us right at our feet. If we split up into multiple rooms she would lie in between them or have to constantly check where we were. She had a wonderful knack for lying down and settling exactly where we needed to be. If we were in the kitchen at the sink she would lie in front of the dishwasher. She would lie in doorways and on feet so that no one could move without her.  

So if there is one good thing about this. It is that if it was going to happen at least it happened when we were home down stairs with her. In the vet's office we stood with her. She was calmed by medicine but her legs were still locked because even after three rounds of medicine the seizure was still progressing. We both stood with her, petting her and rubbing her ears, looking her in the eyes, and speaking to her until she had passed. 

Schultzy had very expressive eyes. Looking in her eyes I could tell she was confused. But also she knew we were with her and she believed us when we told her she would be ok. And that it would be ok.

The vet said that we couldn't know for certain without further testing but it is likely she may have had a brain tumor and that we couldn't have known and not to try and think for missed signs. But there was one strange moment a little less then two weeks ago when our three cats (Tipperary, Roma, and Napoli) who normally avoided Schultzy all decided to come down and sit with us and her. Maybe they sensed something. 

It is very strange waking up in the morning and not having to come walk her. Or coming home and not having her here waiting. 

And now it is silly things that keep coming to mind. Like the way she held her favorite toy, her pacifier, when she chewed on it. Or how she would sleep on it.

And also she loved water. She would drink until her bowl was empty ever since she was a puppy. And she loved snow and ice. In fact ice cubes were her favorite dog treat. 

We called her the best bad dog ever. She had very high anxiety and if she were left alone she would destroy anything. She ate a linoleum floor as a puppy, she broke a door and door handle, she put a hole in the drywall, she ate out the cat door in my laundry room to make it big enough for her to fit through, and she destroyed two dog cages. But at the root of all her bad behavior was a desire to be with us just to be near those who loved her. Which is why she was the best most loyal bad dog. And no matter what she did you couldn't stay mad at her when she looked up with those deep eyes. She was a crazy dog and now our lives are a little less crazy without her. 

"There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief."- Aeschylus

A great way to kick off June: A Race, A Festival, and Hockey

I'm really not very good at this, blogging. Right now I have three posts started that I haven't finished for various reasons. They are posts from what proved to be a very very very busy May. Since I can't finish them at the moment I will say June is looking like a great follow up for May; and now we have made several plans for July; and August has the Eclipse; and this is turning into one of the busiest summers I can remember. I think I may be at the point where I have to stop making the joke: "I have no life".

This also feels like the fastest year I have ever experienced. And I know it's not just me. Meg and I spent first few days of June at our town's city hall volunteering to get ready for the Coopertown 5 mile run and Barrel festival. And there were several times where, "I can't believe it is June already" was exclaimed... I know I said it when I ran over to re-register my car because the tags expired in June and the end of May surprised me.

Meg and I had volunteered to help with packet pick-up for the race last year and we knew that we wanted to do more. I want to be involved in my town. I am invested. This is my home, my house; and I am not going anywhere. Even though I am horrible at facial recognition I look forward to going places and recognizing people and really having that small town feeling that I have always heard of or seen in movies and from people. This year we did get to do more and we learned for next year and will be able to do even more then too.

Another thing we knew we were going to do again was run the race. Last year leading up to the race we started running/walking to prepare for the 5 miles.  This year we were unfortunately unable to do that; so that was a bit of a concern but since we routinely hustle several miles at work every day I was feeling confident we would be ok. After all we only had two goals. The first was the same as last year and that was to finish. The second goal was to beat our time. The morning of the race we arrived at town hall early to help with the last minute pick up and registration. The weather was perfect with sun and temps that would be around 63 at the start of the race and 74 at the end. And as we hoped that forecast brought in a lot of late registrants. I don't know the final count but I do know it put us near or a bit over the number of runners from the previous year. About 7 minutes before the race Meg and I made our way over to the start line to get ready to run.

Much like last year we started out running by picking a spot in the distance to run to and then switching between running and walking as we felt ready. Also like last year it isn't my legs that get tired it is struggling to breathe and I know that means I need to focus on my cardio and technique while running but I haven't figured out everything. I have already learned that on early attempts I swung my arms too much and by consciously keeping my arms closer to my sides (you know looking like a t-rex) I could help increase how long I could run. The other technique I need to work at is just taking better deeper breaths.

Well I am proud to say we met both of our goals.

from runtastic.com and app

Along with the official time keeper from the TN racing commission I used an app on my phone called Runtatsic. Since I just have the basic free version it keeps track of distance/time and elevation changes. My time was actually faster but I went over to the booth to get my printed time from the TN racing guy before I remembered to turn off my app, according to the print out I finished at 1:23. Either way last year I finished at 1:28. I'm feeling like next year the goal should be to finish with under a 15 minute mile.

There are two really neat things about the race. The first is that we run on part of the historic path of the Trail of Tears. Just like I can look back on decisions I have made and realize now that they were bad or wrong decisions (whether they were decisions, actions, or words) that I am not proud of they are still mine. I do better to remember them than forget that they happened. In my opinion running on or walking or marking out for all to see where the Trail of Tears is represents a way for my town, county, and country to remember what happened and that it should not have. Sometime this week I believe bicycle riders from the Cherokee Nation will be coming over that same path as they ride the entire length of the Trail. https://www.cherokee.org/remembertheremoval/ People from our city hall and other residents will be waiting for them to pass and acknowledge what happened to their people. Hopefully this year I will be able to attend as well.

The second neat thing about the race is that when runners sign up they are given the chance to donate to a great cause that helps families in Coopertown and across Robertson County. This year the run raised 170$ for the Back Pack program which sends food home with children who have been recognized as having little or nothing to eat over the weekend: Back pack lunch. I have included the link because if you are reading this and have the money or a moment please consider following this link and learning more and possibly donating to a great local cause.

After the race it was on to the festival. Now you may be surprised to learn this :-) but on August 21st there is going to be a Total Eclipse of the Sun and the path to view Totality stretches from coast to coast across America. If you know me at all then you have only heard that once a week for the past... year and a half? Since Coopertown is right in the path and a great viewing spot I made a poster giving info about the eclipse and included two hand outs. One was a 'save the date' with the date, time, and important info and the other was an eye safety flyer that explained how best to view the partial phase of the eclipse. Included on the poster was some important information like terms that have become common vocabulary to me but may not be to others who are just learning about the eclipse. I also included websites that have been essential to my own research and preparation for this event.

1.  Greatamericaneclipse.com:  A website featuring maps and all kinds of useful information for planning a trip to the area or just understanding the eclipse better.  I included this map of TN on my poster especially because it includes my small town on it!

2.  https://www.beingintheshadow.com/: This is the website for Dr. Kate Russo a psychologist and eclipse expert whose particular interest is in the experience of the eclipse. I have used her information for community planning to try and understand better how to prepare and what to expect.

3. http://mreclipse.com/: A website by Fred Espenak and a great resource for those looking for information about photographing the eclipse. The USPS will be featuring one of his photos on a new forever stamp that will be heat sensitive to show the change in the sun and mimic the eclipse on it. Preorder is available now for the stamp at the USPS website and will be released on June 20th.

4. http://eclipsophile.com/: This website is run by Jay Anderson and Jennifer West and is a great resource for those who will be traveling to the path. I am anchored at my home but if you are along the path or outside and haven't picked a location check this site out. Look for the locations with the highest chance of clear skies and plan to travel early. You will want to be in place the day before especially if you are traveling a long distance. Check my first listed site for the maps of how many visitors are expected to each state.

5. https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/ The last site is the Nightsky Network a great resource for handouts, lesson ideas, and any other info to help spread an interest and understanding of celestial events.

The poster was placed at the North entrance which is the busier of the two entrances to the festival which I appreciate greatly. There were over 5000 people to walk the festival and if even 1/10th of them stopped to look at the poster or take a hand out then that is perhaps way more people than knew before.

It was informative for many, I messed up the drawing in the center but I think it was enough to make the point. I should have connected all the lines before drawing the moon. Basically I realized while making this that my poster making skills have not improved since roughly the 5th grade.

I am excited about this event I can't express that enough and I look forward to enjoying this day with family, friends, and neighbors. Actually right now if you went to my town's website and clicked on the "what's going on link" a poster would come up directing people to email me for more info. So far no one from the town has taken me up on that but I do know neighbors from my subdivision are coming.

I have a go fund me page to help with the cost of the party. I'll include the link but if you are thinking about donating please consider the back pack lunch program first. Share my link but if you want to donate and can only choose one choose the kid's lunches.

Solar Eclipse Party

By the way at this point there are 77 days to the eclipse.

I went back and checked on my poster a few times to make sure it still had handouts and did a few small tasks for the festival but spent most of my time at the Historical Commission booth. This year the Commission had a goal to find unknown or unmarked cemeteries in Coopertown. We had a large map of Coopertown that had all the known cemeteries plotted out. As people walked by we asked them if while hiking, or hunting, or anything had they ever come across graves in woods or fields. Some were found. I had wanted to try and tape record stories of people but my tape recorder had technical difficulties.

And then because a 5 mile race and the festival weren't enough for one day Meg and I headed into Nashville to meet up with our Mom and go downtown to watch the Nashville Predators beat the Penguins. We knew the Predators were going to win that game because P.K. Subban had guaranteed a win and I believed him.

Originally we were going to take the bus down town but it must have been seriously delayed so we jumped in a cab. He was headed to pick up another passenger but we were on his way. As he was driving he held up the water bottle in his cup holder and took a sip. He said he drinks all day. We nodded and said that was good since it was very hot. He smiled. And said yes tequila. We laughed at his unexpected joke but then said no it should be gin or vodka and spent the rest of the ride discussing how different liquors make different drunks. He said that explained many of his passengers at night. We wished him a safe day as we got out and he u-turned to get his passenger waiting at one of the hotels along Broadway.

We went to Bridgestone and slipped into the plaza to watch the game on the big screen in the plaza. After game 2 they had announced that the NHL would be broadcasting from there. They encouraged fans to return for game 3 and show the country what Nashville and its fans were all about. The fans did not disappoint. They packed the streets, the plaza, the honky-tonks, and the bars. As one young man headed to the stadium he proudly held up a catfish AKA "Instrument of Crime". I'm sure he wasn't the only one either. My mom told us the fish store that she purchased fish from for Christmas and New Years Eve had bought 80 extra catfish and was giving them away for free to anyone with a ticket to the game.

I'd like to thank the NHL and Pittsburg for making a quirky Nashville stunt into a heroic gesture of loyalty.

We found a great spot with a good view of the screen then with the puck about to be dropped something really surprising and disappointing happened. They turned the screen off and announced due to technical difficulties they would not be able to show the game. They told us to head to Broadway to watch on the large screens that had been set up on either end of the street. However with the puck about to drop there was no way anyone of us would be getting a good spot. Now at least we had only been there for 5 minutes. Some of those people had been camped out all afternoon, buying food and drinks secure in the fact hat they had gotten there early to pick the best spot they could. Now their preparation was cancelled out by this late announcement. I had no doubt it was not technical difficulties. I was sure it was security and safety reasons. However what I did doubt was that they only learned about the issue two minutes before game time.

We weren't going to let this ruin our viewing. Rather than head to Broadway where thousands of fans were already standing shoulder to shoulder we headed to Demonbreun Ave and the bars that were there. We stopped outside of The Diner, a multi-floor bar and restaurant with different themes on every floor (including a coffee shop (first floor), sports bar (second floor), and sushi bar (sixth floor)). As stated the second floor was a sports bar and from across the street we could see the giant TV screens. We waited there and cheered from the street as the Preds played the first period. Along the street people in yellow and gold tee shirts walked by looking for spots to settle and watch the game.

During the period break we tried to go to another spot that my Mom had eaten at and said was delicious, Martin's Barbecue Joint. However the line was out the door and since everyone was looking to watch the game I didn't see that clearing up any time soon. We went over to the Omni Hotel which was only two blocks away to see if we could get into the sports bar there and watch the game. Even Kitchen Notes the upscale restaurant in the hotel had the game on. But we wanted a more raucous crowd and continued on to Barnotes. There was standing room only but we found a nice spot and, surrounded by fellow fans, we watched as the Predators played a strong game. Rinne was at the top of his game and the defense showed why it was #1 in scoring. With each goal the fans got louder and louder: we cheered, we slapped five, we screamed as if the team could hear us. The entire city had a buzz about it. Nashville was not going away. The fans showed what they were made of and so did the team. None of us were deterred. We trust each other. Tonight is game 4. I wish I could be downtown for this one but I have work. I know the fans who do gather there will be some of the best.


Good luck Predators! Good show Nashville!

Projects projects projects!

So Spring has started with a bang as I have finally gotten some of the projects I wish-listed during the winter started and completed.

The first project started when Meg and I took a random trip to one of our local Good Will stores back in January. At the back was a light wood cabinet with an image of a King and the words "King's Head Pub and Brewing". I opened the cabinet to find it housed a dart board inside with five darts. It also had chalk board on either side of the door for keeping score. The dart board and darts that were in the cabinet didn't match which happens a lot in Good Will as people throw things together right before donating them. Anyway the cabinet was priced at either 2 or 5 dollars I don't remember now and the dart board really didn't matter much to me at all. I wanted to remove the dart board and put in shelves to hold glasses that were currently taking up space inside my bar.

Once we got home I realized it was the actual dart board not darts that did not belong to the set but it had everything else (chalk and erasers) so if I had changed my mind and decided to use it as a dart board it wouldn't have been hard to fix. Anyway I measured the cabinet from side to side and the height to see what would be the best placement to fit the most glasses.

Now I was mounting it in a narrow space that didn't give me much room to try and find studs so I got these really big strong drywall hangers because I didn't want the weight of the cabinet to pull it down. Of course, since I was prepared to not find studs, I hit directly on a stud with the right hook. I really should have known that was going to happen because I was close to the doorway so naturally it would have been framed out there.  As a result I used the drywall anchor on the left and a screw into the stud on the right.

I ended up leaving the chalk board and darts on the sides because I liked the way they looked with the glasses and the overall bar feel of it (I mean darts is the original bar game). Overall this was simply just two shelves and mounting on a wall. And it is definitely one of our best Good Will finds.

Inside shots with and without glasses and a full bar shoot. With the amount of Jack Daniel's glasses and liquor I guess you can tell where my loyalties lie.

Next project was getting a patio/deck area that I could put a gazebo up on and use for hanging in the yard and grilling. I needed a large space because Meg has a large variety of outdoor cooking tools. She has a charcoal grill, gas grill, smoker, electric smoker, and the latest addition is an outdoor sink. Not to mention she wants to get a griddle but hasn't pulled that trigger yet. Originally I priced the cost of doing a wood deck out by my fire pit (using that as a center piece) however with last Spring's rains I quickly realized that would not be wise. See, if you ever hear songs about Tennessee and red dirt it's because there is no dirt. It is all clay. As a result water settles on top of the clay and slowly soaks in. So when we get even one inch of rain in a short amount of time it causes a lot of standing water because it takes so long to soak up. So I quickly dismissed a wood deck because it would definitely not last long. I looked into Trex but that wouldn't really help since the framing would still be wood and would need to be replaced sooner than normal because of the water. That got me looking into concrete slabs. I thought about colored or stamped concrete to give the patio a distinctive look rather than just a slab. My Mom suggested aggregate which is what the building across the street from her condo has in it's parking lot. I liked the look and thought it would really stand out especially against the red brick of my house. At that point I still was thinking of putting it by the fire pit. That is when the outdoor sink got returned to our Lowe's by a customer because of a dent on it. Actually it had been delivered with a dent and he had kept it and used it until the re-order came in. When it got returned to the store it was... well used... to be polite. Anyway we bought it and took it home and cleaned it a bunch of times with a lot of degreaser and eventually it looked like this.

It has a sink top left, burners top right and storage drawers. However the addition of this sink changed my plans as I didn't want to have to run a hose all the way to the fire pit in order to use the sink. So the patio plan was moved away from the fire pit and up to the house so that the sink would be near a spigot.

Now there was existing patio around the back doors of my house so the plan became to add a roughly 24x18 rectangle of aggregate against the existing patio. This way the grills and cooking would be on the plain concrete and the gazebo and other outdoor living would be on the aggregate. Well last week the slab was poured and in the next couple of weeks I will be able to build the gazebo and anchor it down directly into the aggregate, which is necessary for sure with the TN winds.

The gazebo will be in the bottom left quadrant with plenty of room for hanging out in the sun in front of it and to the side.


Finally the last project to get off the ground was switching the downstairs bathroom door for a sliding barn door. There is a door from the garage and a door for the bathroom on adjacent walls. As a result if the bathroom door is open the garage door will hit it. However if we keep the door closed that bathroom gets very cold or hot depending on the season.

The new door started out as a plain hollow door and we added 1x and 2x lumber to it. Also it was my first time staining wood and it was funny to see how the pieces I did later look so much better than the first pieces. At least I know I'm learning right?

The stain was from Minwax and the color is American Chestnut. In that hallway we have a beach motif going on and I think the barn door complements it.

2 new spots on a Saturday.

I had planned to go to Private Star Viewing Party at one of the over looks on the Natchez Trace. The goal was to practice for a Messier Marathon.

Charles Messier was a French astronomer who was totally obsessed with comets and as he explored the night sky looking for comets made a list of all the faint and fuzzy things he saw that were not comets. Today his list is set at 110 different items and in March (the optimum time) Astronomers attempt to find all 110 in one night, hence the marathon.

Now I know I am no where near ready for that but I made a list of several things I wanted to try and find. In order to round up the day I looked up breweries to see if we could find a cool spot for a drink and add to our growler collection. We settled on the Asgard Brewery in Columbia, TN.  A few weeks ago we had stopped by H.G. Hill and had a growler filled with their Huginn Porter which was spectacular. I wasn't sure from the website if the brewery served food or not but we were going to be early so if not we could always find dinner elsewhere.

When we got there I discovered just about the worst thing you would ever want to discover when going to a brewery that you are super excited about. I forgot my ID. Yes of course I hoped they wouldn't ID but as the responsible brewery they are they did ID and that was it for me. However Meg got to enjoy several brews. First she had their Heimdallr. Which she enjoyed but didn't want to take as a growler option so she had a flight in the most amazing flight container ever.

Flight in a Long Boat

Who wouldn't want to have a flight served in a Viking Long Boat?

They had some amusing decor like the award for best place to get in touch with your inner Viking (which is certainly true).

I mean you have the Long Boat Flight that you can enjoy while you sit out front surrounded by fire pits and the wonderful aroma and crackle of burning wood.



If you are near Columbia TN I suggest stopping by and checking out this unique brewery. And in case you were wondering we settled on a growler of cider (second from the left). If the Mead (far left) had been available for a growler she probably would have selected that one.

https://www.asgardbrewery.com/








When we left the Brewery we headed to the Natchez Trace to find our spot. Once we got there Meg used her GPS to search for food in the area. Well 12 miles away (not too bad) was a whole host of fast food options that we all know. Then 5 miles away was Papa Boudreaux's.

So since we were feeling adventurous and Meg loves all things Cajun we headed to Papa's.  Just two quick turns off the Trace at 3419 Fly Road, Sante Fe, TN and we arrived at a restaurant between two homes. I walked in only to discover that they were booked and in about ten minutes were going to be filled. The staff offered to make us food to go and the whole place smelled so good there was no way we could say no. We looked at the menu and choose to split an entree of Papa's Andouille Creole then added a side of dill weed potato salad. Then we saw the Boudin (Boo-Dan) Balls aka the cajun version of rice balls. So we added that.  They got us our food pretty quick and we headed back out to the Trace.

Once there I set up the telescope while Meg split the food. I took a pic of the food but it is dark because I was trying to avoid light. 

And the food didn't last long because it was amazing.  Next time we head out there I will do it right and actually make a reservation. And the cafe is BYOB so we will be stopping at Asgard for a growler of Viking inspired ale before heading to Papa's for some cajun cooking. If you are in Santa Fe, TN I suggest you stop by for a bite. Here is their website for more info- http://www.papaboudreauxscajun.com/

As far as the star viewing went it was cold. I found Venus and Mars (not from the Messier List) but my fingers became very cold and rather than playing with my telescope Meg and I just watched the stars come out and picked out constellations for awhile before taking the Trace back to Nashville and heading home.

Solar Eclipse Party Update

So the preparation for the August 21st Solar Eclipse Party is going splendidly! Some of the supplies have started arriving including the eclipse glasses.

I purchased them from this website: https://www.teachersource.com/  One very important thing to note is the inside writing that shows it meets the ISO 12312-2 requirement for solar viewing. Looking at the sun is dangerous for your sight. A lot of websites may be selling glasses that do not meet these requirements which could make prolonged viewing of the sun extremely hazardous. The solar eclipse is going to be magnificent but safety must come first.

I have found some things to make gift bags for kids who come to the party, all solar system or general science themed, though I haven't made that purchase yet.

We have several backyard games and I got a rocket because why not!

I'm pretty excited about the possibility of soaring up to 50'.

After researching several different citizen scientist projects I found the Eclipse Mega Movie project (https://eclipsemega.movie/ ) and keeping that in mind I bought some equipment. We haven't tested it yet but I bought a solar filter for Meghan's Cannon Rebel to catch photos leading up to Totality. Then she will be able to remove the filter to hopefully catch photos of the Corona (crown) around the sun during Totality and also the Diamond Ring Effect just before and just after Totality. This is when people report seeing a bright light that looks like a jewel in a diamond ring caused by sun light being concentrated through a crater on the moon surface.

http://www.weatherscapes.com/

Another piece of equipment I bought for her camera is the T-ring and adapter we needed to attach her camera to our telescope. Last night we hooked it up for the first time. Obviously there will be a learning process but here are the first photos we captured of the moon.

Finally I have a Go-Fund-Me page to help us raise money for the party. As I have said when I have shared it in the past on facebook and twitter I realize there are many more pressing and important causes on Go-Fund-Me but also I think we have a once in a lifetime event and chance here to bring some of our excitement about the Solar Eclipse to many people. It's hard to put into words but with each day  (there are 190 left until the Eclipse) I get more and more excited. Last night with the telescope trying to capture images of the moon I felt like a kid again.

We have different suggested donation amounts that come with various rewards. One of the rewards is a shout out here when the donation is made as well as in the blog post I will write after the event. Well we got a donation from a real good friend who donated anonymously so I won't mention my friend's name but still I want to acknowledge it here.

If anyone reading this could help me by spreading this page or donating that would be appreciated:  https://www.gofundme.com/2sjdtm6k

Also I am using the Go-Fund-Me to try and invite several celebrities who most certainly will not ever come but it would be awesome to get it to their attention and maybe at least get a "no thank you".  So any help again in spreading that would be cool.