A week from now…

A week from today is the big solar eclipse! Where I live in the Chicago suburbs, there isn’t much excitement but my hometown in Ohio is a whole other matter.

I grew up in Wapakoneta, Ohio famous pretty much only for being the hometown of Neil Armstrong. Wapak (as we natives call it) has a population of about 9,800 people and is a lovely little small town that has worked hard to have a quaint downtown area full of fun stores and restaurants. And it’s also home to the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum. There’s a Moon Festival every summer to celebrate the first walk on the moon — and you can get any number of souvenirs saying First on the Moon in the area.

Wapak is pretty much on the line for 100% totality for this eclipse. Needless to say with the fondness for the Moon in town, it’s going to be a big event there. Need a schedule? Check out the website here: https://www.wapaksolareclipse.com/

So with all the excitement, I’m heading home to see the eclipse. I’ve never seen one so I’m pretty excited myself! For the last solar eclipse in North America in 2017, Chicago only saw a partial eclipse. I went to an event at the Chicago Botanical Gardens – but sadly, at eclipse time clouds rolled in and by the time I made it to the car, it was raining. So I’m hoping for clear skies this year and the chance to use any of my 6 pairs of eclipse glasses to see totality!

One of the really interesting things about totality is all the other things that become visible for the 4-5 minutes the moon blocks out the sun – check out these links for info. If you have the chance, I’m told totality is amazing. If you miss this year, you only have to wait until 2044 for a line of totality in North America again!

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Learn-or-Do

I like to learn something new every day. Something about a short attention span maybe? But it keeps me engaged and growing - and who doesn't want that?

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