Planning for a big trip can take time, and life will occasionally eclipse you, making your goals a bit out of focus like Viv. In August 2017 at Madras OR she is pointing to a sliver of moon and Venus in the predawn. Around us, (in an area the size of the city and Town of Plattsburgh NY, our home) are a quarter of a million people who came to see that Moon get exactly between Viv and our Sun. As we roll towards our own total Eclipse on April 8th, here are My and Vivien’s Top Five Tips to aid your own Eclipse Experience:
1) Know where you are going to be! Viv knew we were meeting friends at a hotel in Madras, but we didn’t make a reservation (expensive) to stay the night before, so Natty B did a spot of research as we rolled into town and scored a 20’x20′ patch of scrub land at the local airport for $10 for us to camp on and celebrate Viv’s birthday. Not an issue for us this time as Plattsburgh is under the centerline. If you do not live here, be warned.
2) Know where you are going to defecate! Gross but essential. V, remember that line of 800 people who wanted to use one stall at the Dunkin? Even though our 2.5 baths are actually under the line of totality in April, we will be at the Plattsburgh City Beach helping folks to stare safely straight into the Sun. I am promised plenty of Portaloo on the day.
3) Do what your mother told you NOT to do! Yes, you are going to look directly at the Sun during totality, seeing all sorts of solar weather around the disc of the Moon. No, you are not going to do it without solar spectacles of some sort until beyond the last second. Cardboard and film goggles are everywhere in the area. The closer you get to April, the more the costs will go up. If it looks really cheap it probably is: a good rule-of-thumb is to look for an ISO number on the packaging because your sight is worth it.
4) Learn Something? An eclipse is a really intense moment in your life. Even if you are studying up, someone you’ve never even met before the day will have a different cool way to experience it. Our favorite pre-totality method in 2017 was a lovely woman with a basket of kitchen utensils. She held a pasta strainer over a white sheet on the ground and it projected dozens of little moons changing phase.
4) Be Cool, like the Moon! At totality -8 minutes, we will be hanging up a sign, “Back In 20 Minutes”, on our equipment. Before that moment, we will answer questions and show folks the rapidly changing disc of the Sun, suppling glasses and commentary as necessary. Our (and Your) actual encounter with the Shadow, especially the first time, should be private, whether you’re in the woods, on a mountain, or in a crowd of 250,000. Enjoy this time and try not to let your method disrupt other’s enjoyment.
5) Enjoy Time Dilation! At our location, totality lasts ~3.4 minutes. It’s going to feel like 3.4 hours for some and 3.4 seconds for others. The important take-away here is that you should take the time to enjoy the event. If you’re planning on dropping by an eclipse party and then bipping off to your dinner reservations at Vladimir Poutine in Montreal (sadly, I think they are closed), remember the potential +250,000 folks with exactly the same idea, and chill in place for a bit. In Madras, it took 4 hours for the grid lock to ease enough on a three-lane road for actual movement out of town. My method for whiling away the hours before I could walk to our campsite and bring our stuff into town? Find a friendly T-shirt vendor and help her hawk her wares out amongst the stalled vehicles.
Next Friday? Managing your expectations. But, in a fun way!