The Solar Eclipse & The Path to Totality

There were somewhat exaggerated estimates of the numbers of people who would come into our county to see totality, but the actual numbers seem much lower than forecast.
Still, there were enough that motel rooms were sold out at a steep premium for most of the areas within fifty miles or so of totality. OTOH, there probably aren't a huge number of rooms available to begin with, since this isn't a tourist area.
There are those who do travel large distances to see total eclipse events. I can understand how one could find it addictive enough to be worthy of traveling.
 
We drove to the Amtrack station in Port Henry NY. There's a lawn, a museum and elbow room there.
The locals who run the library had a bake sale and topped a wall with free books. Some Amish people showed up and sold pies and candles.
A family with a pizza oven on a trailer was there.
A northbound train arrived and 130 people got off. The eclipse started a half hour later.

A firefighter from Philadelphia made the trip and sat with us. We had the BEST TIME.
What's not to be overlooked was that a bunch of folk with a common interest had accumulated in one spot much as people group-up on the rim of the Grand Canyon.

The lighting effect at totality was oddly powerful. We all could see the "7 o'clock flare". It was cool to see parents directing their kids' attention to what was happening. I'm so glad I made the relatively small effort to see it.

My wife and I got a Shiba Inu which is now 27 months old. He's a cutie and I walked him around and introduced him to the clusters of people spread out on blankets. He was a big hit.

These are things which are singular and memorable. I shan't forget it.

I can compare it to seeing a small fruit tree which was ablaze with fireflies. Perhaps this particular tree is where they mate.
All I know is that the simplicity and purity of what I saw stuck with me all my life.

Things which are rare, simple and beautiful are fleeting and should be regarded highly. They are not nothing.
 
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Lucky for you folks then.

I’m a cop just outside Burlington, VT…we’ve got every set of hands we can on duty and have most officers pulling doubles just for bare minimal coverage of the roads. Highway department is assisting with traffic, fire and EMS at a few intersections. And it’s still utter chaos.
Thank you for working today. My family and I appreciated the police presence and had no difficulty with traffic or otherwise. Drove from Burlington out to Johnson on 15. Was that you?
Totality in Vermont:View attachment 213108
(Taken, by my son, from my front lawn)
Nice! That red prominence was clearly visible as were two planets.
 
Things which are rare, simple and beautiful are fleeting and should be regarded highly. They are not nothing.
Agree completely. Here is a rare spectacle that is free to all in its path to view that transcends anything mere men might contrive.
We were very glad that we got to see it.
 
We caught about a 40% coverage here and although it was partially cloudy we had enough breaks to see it clearly. I have a nice shot of my buddy with his 4 year old grand daughter. She’ll be able to see it in 2044 when Alberta and a bit of BC will see it in totality.
 
next town south of me, Wapakoneta, OH


Local station had their own eclipse special, breaking into and over NBC's national eclipse special:
 
FOMO "fear of missing out" social media built it up to this big thing but when the dust clears they will realize it was really nothing

I wholeheartedly disagree! It was an awesome spectacle that I won't forget for the rest of my life. It started out overcast and my girlfriend and I thought it was going to stay that way but just before the totality, the clouds cleared and we got a great view of the corona! And then it stayed clear after that so we got to see the moon pull away from the sun too. It didn't cost us a thing, we just pulled up some comfy chairs in her backyard and sat outside for two hours.
 
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