Eclipse watching fun without the bother!

[Morich]

Since the local weather is so questionable and knowing the area, we had come around to not trying to move far to look at things unless the weather looked better.
That has left us time to just set back and giggle at what we see! It's a true study in human nature from several angles.

First it has been fun to consider how greedy folks can be when they see a way to skin other people!
Hotels and motels are obvious for this as it is the normal to up the prices on any day of the week. what has been a real eye opening is the way folks thought they could retire on a days earnings from a sprout patch in the back yard!

Tent camp site 10X10 with NO facilities like bathroom, water or electricity for $100 a night. Or $200 if you want to have access to a porta-pottie!
If you have an 8 X 10 tent, do you get to set out a lawn chair?

And that's just the start of the fun as the time has not yet arrived and the local folks are throwing a fit. A small town near center of path had a "big deal" event to run until Thursday! Not near me nor Austin, thank god! Big deal just outside of the small town and 500 or so "entertainers" invited! Big Deal and we're all gonna get rich?

That worked fine until folks found out they had no workable rules in the county for music playing all night! I had to giggle at how soon they canceled the event for bad weather coming in! If I understand it right the eclipse is this afternoon Monday, and the event is canceled because the weather forecast calls for severe weather possibly Tuesday?
Maybe a bit more lying about whose ears got bent for planning this "progress!

Gotta love the Texas two step! We step in it up to our ankles, we have to step somewhere else!

[Blue Sky]

If there's anyone there that's old enough to remember The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, they should have known what to expect.

[bigb]

On Walmart's web site there is a two pack of eclipse glasses for $999.00 today, (but you won't receive them in time).

[Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by bigb

On Walmart's web site there is a two pack of eclipse glasses for $999.00 today, (but you won't receive them in time).

What a bargain! ... but they will be in time for the one in 2044 - the next one in the US.

[TravatoJohn]

Morich, well said. I watched it in Co. on TV(CBS) and they showed it in different cities at its fullest. In Co. we only got a 2/3 coverage but was interesting. Only got a little cloudy as a result. Didn’t have to drive anywhere.
Travato John

[Morich]

I've given up on trying to see any of it at this [point. We had semi/occasional glimpses until it started to be enough change to spot the small circle of shadow and then a layer of low clouds around 3000-5000 feet moved in and it was almost total clouds then.

The part that caught my attention was them moving the folks out of the festival area so soon. This was a small town about 60 miles West North West of Austin and mostly a quiet spot on the route to one of the local lakes. What made me kind of chuckle was the closing of the festival so soon and the excuses made!
They admit to having lots of complaints about the music running all night and the volume but then say they need to close it down before the severe weather moves in.

The hinky part of that is they declared it closed this morning well before the totality and the severe weather was forecast for some rain tonight with possible severe weather being forecast for tomorrow Tuesday night!

It made me think the real forecast was for severe calls in the middle of the night to report loud music! In a rural area where everybody knows who the county folks are, that sort of complaint comes home real quick if you want to be reelected!

We find this is pretty common around here as there seems to be very little concern with keeping people awake all night if there is a band playing anywhere within 4-5 miles!

I love it when it hits them where it hurts! Maybe if they get chewed out and have to answer the calls enough they will consider moving into the real world!
Right now if it sells booze and collects taxes, it's super fine!

[TravatoJohn]

If I hear you right you were referring to Burnett,Texas. They showed all the people coming in yesterday and all the dust. Nice little town but I’d rather stay and eat in Llano. Travato John

[Morich]

Originally Posted by TravatoJohn

If I hear you right you were referring to Burnett,Texas. They showed all the people coming in yesterday and all the dust. Nice little town but I’d rather stay and eat in Llano. Travato John

Right on that! It's the size town where I spent a lot of time when younger. Just likely to be an overall good place to grow up.
But as I got more into working and wound up dealing with many of the folks who run small places, I began to see the darker side of how things work.
I was heavily involved with some of the things like water and power and had to get involved in how decisions are made when there is such a small group making those decisions!
I know nobody in Burnet but just standing back and seeing a big deal like a festival come up and everybody promoting the idea and then after one or two nights of all night music, seeing it getting canceled, it tells me there was a lot more than meets the eye in that decision!

Nobody wants to be the mayor! Everybody loves the mayor! But they're going to catch hell if they keep folks awake all night!

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by Blue Sky

What a bargain! ... but they will be in time for the one in 2044 - the next one in the US.

That ones only seen in 3 New England states.

[Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

That ones only seen in 3 New England states.

I will likely miss that one, but the following year, 2045, there will be another with totality in Florida. I would like to get excited about that, but being 75 now, there might be 6 feet of earth between me and it.

... lots of Hoosiers in the family; got some excellent photos of the recent one. I'm guessing you were in a great viewing spot as well.

[wahoonc]

The dog and I watched it from my porch in NC. We had around 74% totality if the maps are to be believed. I got out my old-school welding helmet with the #14 shade. Temps dropped about 4-5 degrees. The birds were all twittering. Then it was gone. The weather was near perfect.

It is amazing how people will flock to some things and pay a premium for it. I have all but given up on doing the National Park grand tour due to the exorbitant cost and the frustration of having to make reservations that may or may not be reservations. I can see plenty of beauty along the road as I go, in the small towns and byways of America.

Now back to fixing the roll-up shades in the Behemoth...

Aaron

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by Blue Sky

I will likely miss that one, but the following year, 2045, there will be another with totality in Florida. I would like to get excited about that, but being 75 now, there might be 6 feet of earth between me and it.

... lots of Hoosiers in the family; got some excellent photos of the recent one. I'm guessing you were in a great viewing spot as well.

Don't look forward,do one day at a time., I'm 81 and still able to do most things myself.
Yup, my house is right under the center line of totality. This is one of many pictures I took with my 35 yr old Sony Handicam on a tripod.

[Morich]

Nice shot there!
I did some playing with pictures of the lunar eclipse a while back but it was a slow moving thing that gave plenty of time for playing with the settings!

I found only a mostly cloudy sky with a few breaks if you were quick enough. No unusual animal activity but I did spend some time laying on my back in the yard and saw three birds go over that looked different.
Big like possibly wood storks but that might be normal for this time of year and migration. Possibly if I spent more time on my back in the yard I would seem them more often?
Our 14/15 year old cat did act odd but that is near normal for her! More dogs barking but that is now normal for any time somebody steps in the yard! And there were several people who came out to look around!

With it being a cloudy day, we never noted any weather change like cool temperatures that others have reported.

So I tend to find anything to do with tourists to be highly overrated in so many cases.
I have seen all kinds of local reports of people seeing unusual or remarkable things during the event.
So what did you see? I'm prone to taking your word more than the local news!
Todays local headline was patting themselves on the back for how quickly the traffic cleared! DUH!

[Blue Sky]

Great shot, RAY,IN, and good advice.