I searched xt225.com, and am surprised that I didn't find a topic on the August 21 solar eclipse.

Are you anywhere near the path of totality? If so, what do you plan to do tomorrow?

At first, I thought we would go to Tellico Plains, and take the Cherohala Skyway to a high elevation, where it would be possible to watch the moon's shadow sweep across the landscape at 1800 mph. Then I thought about what the Cherohala Skyway would be like with 10,000 vehicles, and it didn't seem like such a good idea.

Second choice was Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia, but there is only one very narrow, very steep road to the top, and their 1500 tickets sold out months ago.

We settled on Tiger Mountain Winery, which should have ~2'30" of totality, is on a back road, about 50 miles away, and has a cool, dark tasting room. Driving up at 9:30 tomorrow, with 2 beach chairs, a tripod, 10X monocular and a white card to project the sun's image, a pair of binoculars for totality, a still camera and a video camera. All we need is clear skies.

I know everyone wants to head for the north Georgia mountains, where it is going to be 100%. I'll be staying in Atlanta where it is going to be 97%. I think it may be even more awesome here, not going to complete 100%. Everyone is focused on looking at the sun. I think it is going to be the way everything looks on the ground that looks strange. We had a solar eclipse here sometime in the 90's, I think it was only about a 70% eclipse, and it made everything look orange to me for a while. It may even be better if we do get an overcast sky. I'm excited about it none the less, and looking forward to it.

I read an essay about solar eclipses by Annie Dillard a few hours ago, with this quote:



Essay here: Annie Dillard's Classic Essay: 'Total Eclipse'

It's predicted to be around 85% here from our front yard. Skies look clear but clouds can form at anytime. We'll see what happens. I'll be using my auto darkening welding helmet for the view. Also will try to get a picture through the helmet. Not sure how well that will work.

People are going nuts over this with the usual chaos in conjected areas. Travel safely and with due caution. Also some companies are marketing cheap glasses, trading someone's vision for a buck. Make sure what you are looking through or at is safe. Enjoy it.

It's 10:41a MT and the eclipse has started. Welding helmet works great. But I can't get any good pictures of it. Just looks like someone took a bite out of the apple. As for photos, I don't think there will be any lack of them posted on the internet. Taken by those that have the equipment to render it well.

OK, it peaked about 11:40a as predicted. We had perfectly clear skis too. And the commute to the front yard was about 10 seconds. The moon blocked about 85% of the sun. Saw a loss of ambient light too with a cool breeze ensuing. So you might say it was kind of a cool event but nothing I'd go nuts over.

It was awesome here!! We could've stood in the driveway and seen it, but decided to drive 15 mins to the in-laws house. Traffic was crazy but we avoided it. I made a pin hole viewer and it worked like a charm. Totality was really neat, the cicadas started chirping.





I got some good pics of totality but haven't gotten them off the camera yet.

My daughter's school (Gatton Academy) had a special eclipse event for students and parents at the South Union Shakertown just outside Bowling Green. Very cool event. Food, band, plenty of water, historical rural setting.

All the schools here cancelled for the day, which was the correct decision given the post-eclipse traffic-pacolypse. Most schools let out between 2:30-3, which was right at totality. Every major road was bumper-to-bumper and barely moving for 6-8 hrs after totality.

Cool pin hole viewer. We used to make these in a box put over the head to project the image on white paper. Going back many many years now. A fun project. My attempts at photography through the welding helmet failed miserably.