My work place is hosting an event… Niagara region immediately south of us is expecting to be overwhelmed with people…
There have been stories in the news here in Ontario about how Niagara Falls will be overwhelmed by millions of visitors. I’m a little skeptical to be honest, and I think coverage like this will dampen the enthusiasm of more casual observers.
So maybe you’ll find yourself in the middle of a horde, but even if you are I suspect it will be short lived. I would love to be in the Ozarks the rest of the week, that’s beautiful country! You’ll be used to pines being from Louisiana, but when I was in Arkansas/Missouri in the spring I was inhaling allergy pills to deal with the buckets of pollen going up my nose!
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I think like everything… social media and now the news create a buzz to try to capture viewers/likes etc… I feel like everything gets hyped and burns out fast only to be replaced by the next hyped story of the moment… My office is next to the stadium where our viewing party is so that is where I will be if I remember to go…
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My dad’s side of the family was from the Mena general area and we’ve been to Jasper (as well as many other regional Arkansas locations) all our lives. In fact we’ll be staying the same boutique hotel where I stayed last year for a photo workshop. So that’s not a question. My only concern will be the hoards… If the weather keeps some away, that’s a win.
Where I live in Louisiana it’s called Pineville… and it’s aptly named. TONS of those vile pine trees littering every square inch of ground. Fortunately so far I’ve not had a specific physiological reaction (other than disgust) to pine pollen. I’ve seen clouds of pollen so thick they looked like smoke, literally. So far this year it’s not been that bad (famous last words).
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Yeah, but they sure are pretty! And the smell is amazing - like living in a sauna, with the heat to match! I’ve got a poster of Long-leaf pine savanna in my office here in Ottawa, a reminder of happy days spent cruising across the Gulf states.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on pretty (I really don’t care for them), but you got it dead right in the heat and humidity.
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Rush ordered a couple of glasses on Friday—or was it Saturday? Because of that, they were up-sold. Oh well.
Happy eclipse viewing tomorrow! It will be my first. Hoping for a 
-free experience.
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total1 solar eclipse overcast sky 
[1] 99.51-99.7%
My son lives in a “perfect” spot, Boerne, Texas. It is so perfect that they have declared a civil emergency because of the expected influx of eclipse watchers. His in-laws are planning to go to his house for viewing, but I wonder whether they will even be able to get there through the traffic.
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Here’s what that “perfect” spot looks like now. 
That’s San Antonio (or as the locals say, “San Antone”) in the center of the road loop. All that muck is heading north, but so far we’re partly cloudy (with areas of clear) in west central Arkansas. We’ll see how it looks in 2.x hours.
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It was overcast with a fleeting opening where I saw a sliver of sun. It then went dark, but not completely (7/8 p.m. light). The breeze stopped. Still quite dramatic within a span of a few minutes.
BTW, I am in Canada… so the title is not quite accurate.
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It just got mildly dark here. It seemed to confuse the vultures who seemed suoer busy trying to catch thermals. Other than that I really enjoyed being in the soft and eclipse-shaped shadow light play. Also relish in the fact that total eclipses only occur on Earth, as our planet is the only who’s moon happens to be just the right size in the sky to perfectly block the solar disk.
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As it turned out, in west central Arkansas it was totally clear overhead at the time of totality.
I know nothing about solar image processing so I’ll try again after I get home (and can research a little). This was shot handheld with my Canon 850D and EF70-200 f/4L zoom, then processed in mono on my laptop in the hotel room.
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We were only expected to see up to 20ish percent of totality…but we had 100% cloud cover all day. I’ll just catch the next one
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So far, this is one of the coolest images I’ve seen so far:
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Really cool diamond ring effect.
Yesterday I walked past a shop in Budapest that sells telescopes and microscopes, from decent student/hobbyist to professional grade. Apparently you can get an entry level refractive telescope kit for less than 100 EUR that allows visual observation of various wonders of the night sky, from smaller moon craters to the rings of Saturn. You can do this anytime and anywhere you get a clear sky, not having to wait decades for the next opportunity. It puzzles me that many people spend much more to see an eclipse, yet are seemingly not interested in any other aspect of astronomy.
An eclipse is easier.
Yes it usually requires travel but other than that it’s pretty obvious. And it’s very spectacular.
Astronomy, on the other hand, requires effort and study if one plans on moving past the moon and bright planets (even those require effort to observe carefully). It’s much more difficult to get excited about a small dim smudge in an eyepiece. I’m not slighting solar study but speaking from a popular POV.
But probably as much as anything, two other things:
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Eclipses are hyped and promoted, they’re fashionable – Hunching over an eyepiece in the dark is not. It’s seen as dorky.
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One can view an eclipse from the most over-populated, over-developed and light-polluted locations imaginable. Astronomy requires access to dark skies, which are continually disappearing in the face of our ever-increasing lunacy to light up the night.
(sorry for the soapbox, off it now)
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Google trends for “(why) do my eyes hurt”:
Apparently not everyone was wearing the special goggles.