Total Eclipse!...All Alone At The End Of The World

The whole Great American Eclipse thing has been interesting. This was our first and most likely last chance at an easy look at a totality event. While everything we've read said there was going to be a frenzy with crowds flocking from all over the country to flood the totality zone, we were convinced we could find a spot in the middle of wild Idaho on public lands to enjoy the show in private.

We were also convinced that so many other fulltime RV friends we know would be trying to do the same. Much to our surprise, everyone we talked to said they were doing everything in their power to avoid the event, even though they were planning to be within a few hundred miles of the totality zone as a course of their regular travels.

One of our friends, a former NASA engineer no less, was shockingly uninterested in the "event". I Mean, how could someone from NASA be bored by all this? I can't blame them. I probably wouldn't be all jazzed up about a total eclipse either if I had access to files about extraterrestrials or other intriguing space oddities.

Our interest in the eclipse hardly counts as an obsession. We have spent zero dollars on specialized cameras and astronomical devices (other than $3.00 certified eclipse glasses). You won't see us on a charter flight through empty skies, on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific, or on an isolated island in the Moluccas going for totality.

But even for us, the fundamental inversion of day turned to night as the moon blocks out the sun has a primal mystique that is hard to match. We were in search of an all embracing visual and sensory experience...that's all.

After a scenic and leisurely nine hour drive south from Bonners Ferry, ID, we found a sweet spot on BLM land next to the Big Lost River, one of our favorite trout streams in Idaho. While there were hordes of campers about 25 miles from us in the Mackay, ID area, there was no one in sight at our little spot. As far as our civilian GPS could tell us, we were right on the centerline of the eclipse totality band. A nice place to witness the end of times.

Idaho's tallest peak, Mt. Borah in the background to the east.

Nothing but the gap through the Sawtooth Mountains going to Sun Valley to the west.

The Big Lost River. Idaho's best kept trout fishing secret. 

Fishing is fine, but a private dog swimming lagoon was big draw for some. 

The day of the eclipse dawned with a brilliantly blue, clear sky. We set up our chairs at 10 AM to watch through our protective glasses as the moon slowly crept across the sun.  

The first signs we saw started at 10:13 AM. All we really noticed was a gradual cooling off in the area. Without our solar glasses to see the moon slowly taking a chunk out of the sun, it just looked like a normal day. Even up until the eclipse was at about 99%, there was a big shadow being cast by our rig and the solar panels were still putting out juice.

Still very light out at 99% of totality.

At 11:30 AM the totality event started for us. It lasted two minutes and 15 seconds. All the hype was true. As the sky darkened, the temperature dropped another 10 degrees and everything seemed to get eerily silent. It was as if a giant switch was suddenly flipped, the sky went dark, some stars came out, and the sun's corona around the moon looked like a florescent high definition disk. Overcome with elation, we hooted, hollered and jumped for joy. I suppose if we were living five hundred hundred years ago or so, we would have been on our knees praying as fast as possible for redemption.

At total eclipse, rather than being completely dark,  it looked like we had a 360 degree sunrise with no more shadow being cast by the rig.

A very amateur shot of the sun's corona at totality

The "diamond" when totality ends and the moon starts uncovering the sun.

At totality, "sunrise" is in all directions around you.

A partial eclipse almost seems like a big yawn. A total eclipse, however, is worth every bit of effort to be part of. Although this will most likely be our first and last total eclipse, it's easy to see how the raw excitement combined with the adventure of a quest can easily get you hooked. We can't help but think about Antarctica in 2021, Indonesia in 2023, and Egypt in 2027 (with Luxor bang on the centerline). Each eclipse comes with its own sense of place and purpose. The reality is that some day we will be too old or too ill to even consider the list of upcoming total eclipses and the broad, hypnotic loops of astronomical time they represent. And yet, we know they'll continue without us, without all of us, long after we're gone. 

The Idiots In Charlottesville Don't Represent What Most Of Us Think Or Do…Do They?

The top story over the past few days is about the white nationalists and their brethren at odds with their over-zealous anti-fascist opposition in Virginia. They are so at odds that Virginia’s governor declared a state of emergency due to the violent clashes at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. The images coming from the scene are so provocative and full of savagery that they must mean the beginning of the end for our country.

Yet, what most Americans need to do right now isn’t to appeal to some sense of ‘national unity’ against hate or to “come together as one.” Fine sentiments—if you’re into that sort of thing, but excuse us for saying we don’t need this President, or any other talking head, to tell us and most of our fellow Americans that “this kind of violence” has no place in America (which makes us wonder, what other kinds of violence do have their place in the USA?)

Most Americans, most people, already know this sort of stupidity and violence on the march in Charlottesville is unacceptable and a waste of time. The people assembled in Virginia do not represent what most Americans think or wish to do with their precious little free time on a Saturday. The hysteria from the political media surrounding this event is at best overblown by good intentions and at worst being purposely stoked for website hits, TV ratings, fund raising, and political agendas.

Rather than heeding the hollow calls for peace and unity from “our dear” political leaders or the foolish pleas from left/right activists on the ground in Virginia, what most Americans need to do right now is keep right on doing what they’re already doing…enjoying what little freedom they still have in ways too numerous to list completely.

We spent the last few days at a series of local picnic/parties where we celebrated the lives of recently deceased elders, roasted whole pigs, listened to friends play “classic” rock, watched the next generations play in the swimming holes and with the dogs, and enjoyed the local food and drink you can only find in our little part of the world. It’s easy to wonder if this is the last of the good life before everything implodes. Or are we just living life the way most of the people in this country are still doing (and will continue to do).

Time for a pig roast!

Jake always makes new friends....

Keep in mind, while a few hundred deluded racists and hysterical “anti-fascists” clash in Virginia, thousands of Americans are attending baseball, football, rugby, and soccer games while millions watch from home.

Do not forget, while the despairing political boobs clash in Charlottesville, millions of Americans are attending concerts, cheerleading competitions, marching band practice, neighborhood BBQ’s, jazz and blues festivals, movie showings, yoga classes, college classes, dog-training seminars, baby-showers, weddings, funerals, and pool parties.

Just remember, while political incompetence reveals its ugly face in one tiny place on the map, millions of Americans are relaxing at home, reading books, drinking fine wines and fresh, cold beer, sharing high school memories with old friends, smoking whatever they got, texting the sexy boy or girl they met last night, or emailing a lost love they haven’t seen in 20 years.

Americans are shopping. Americans are putting on fundraisers in fun ways. Americans are eating junk food and health food, homemade brownies and patty pan squash. Americans are lying in the white sands of the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico and the Michigan UP, and kayaking along little rivers and lakes across this rich and plentiful land. Americans are driving their sports cars, riding their bikes, and hiking through the diverse forests from sea to shining sea.

The point is that hopefully most Americans don’t give a damn about what’s happening in Charlottesville, VA, and they especially aren’t stupid enough to participate in such a festival of idiocy and blood.

We’re happy if they don’t give a damn, and can only wonder why people with political motives want everyone to pay attention to these petty losers in Virginia. Maybe most Americans already realize enjoying their freedom doesn’t require being a sheep ready to follow the latest, edgy shepherd who says there is something terribly wrong with us and the world.   

Call it apathy if you like, but if more Americans acted like most Americans who simply enjoy their free time and hard-earned money, politics would seem very stupid and small indeed... an utter waste of time and energy on something already very stupid and small as it stands.

But just in case times are changing for the worse, it's time for us to go out now and enjoy our liberty while we still have it.