Total Eclipse 2024

I'm putting my memory eggs into an unpredictable basket by headlining this post with a Facebook video. No telling what the state of social media will be a year from now, much less twenty years from now. (As if anyone will be eagerly seeking out WWYG?! in 2044.) But nevertheless, this encapsulates the experience in my time, in my "backyard." And, if nothing else--I am hopeful that this significant event will be recorded for posterity in some retrievable fashion for the benefit of the future.

(So . . . let's double down I guess . . .)

But . . . for me . . . this was a truly memorable event. As others have noted today, reflecting on yesterday--it exceeded my imagination. I know the theory of an eclipse. I've experienced partial eclipses. But seeing a totality occur was something that felt awe inspiring.

To have the reality of something match up so well with the description (huh . . . science KNEW what it was talking about!) was remarkable. The diminishment of the light. The coming of twilight. The reveal of stars (probably planets) at 3 pm. The complete blockage of the sun and the exposure of the so-real-it-seemed-fake image of the sun's corona and its electric umbra dominating the black blue of the sky. Seeing the street lights turn on. And through it all, listening to the excited crowd around me as people reacted in wonder to what was happening. I laughed in astonishment and excitement. It took me by surprise how remarkable it actually was.

I wasn't in a spot that was directly in the middle of totality. So our moment of totality was maybe a minute or so in length. What it must have been like to see that blockage, that midnight blue, that electric light for almost four minutes? 

But I'm so happy that something this remarkable occurred in my backyard. (Though Lynda, Jay, and I drove down the road to the soccer fields on Cleveland Avenue--across from the Westerville Community Center.) 

Part of me wishes that I had tried to take better pictures of the totality. But I'm glad that in the moment, I was more focused on the world around me and less on my technology. And I hope that these words can help me remember this moment for years afterward.

There have only been a few times in my adult life were I was unexpectedly caught off guard by the impact of an event. The other that comes immediately to mind is standing at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem in 2012. The moment of awe and the realization that something so much bigger than me was happening . . . really something.

 

#HatofSummer Voting Update #1

 Good day everyone! It has been a few weeks and I've let the #OfficialHat2024 voting proceed at its own, slow pace in the first few weeks.

There haven't been lots of votes yet. But we still have almost two full months for that to change.

I say that not to encourage you to sit on your voting hands and wait, but rather to remind you that you can use these upcoming weeks to vote to your heart's content. Many times! Multiple times! It is still very much anyhat's game to win or lose.

The Temperance Row hat has the bulk of the votes to this point. So, if you like that hat, then keep it going. But if you want to see another choice challenge for the crown (no crown options available), then go forth!

Click on this link to be taken to the Google Form for voting: https://forms.gle/qE3MDu2UM6sQLqx69

On that page, you will see the Rules video that I made this year and your four options.

If you would like to see the videos that have been made for the 2024 #HatofSummer campaign, you can visit this year's YouTube playlist. 

I will start making more video updates soon, I promise! 

Vote for the 2024 #HatofSummer

 You have seen all for hat choices for #OfficialHat2024. (But if you need a refresher on what the four hats are, check out the 2024 #HatofSummer playlist.)

So now you can get busy voting.

Please vote as many times as you want!

#HatofSummer Video #4: Anders Erickson

Today's post features the final option in the 2024 #HatofSummer contest.

The Anders Erickson hat is merch that I bought from this YouTube channel.

Anders makes very good weekly videos about making cocktails and often discusses the history and creators of the drinks featured in each video. As I say in the video, I'm learning more about making cocktails and have started experimenting with spirits and liqueurs and the like. Cocktails always intimidated me as the ingredients always seems confusing and foreign and odd. But, as with everything else in life, if you take your time and think about it, you can learn.

So, please drink responsibly.

But . . . vote irresponsibly!

All of the #OfficialHat2024 choices are now public and the voting sheet is live. Start clicking and voting with abandon! You can start casting votes for your favorite hat here.

I'll start posting update videos to give you progress on voting soon!

 

#HatofSummer Video #3: Temperance Row Brewing Co.

 Here is the third of four choices for the 2024 #HatofSummer.

It's another bit of swag from another local Westerville business--a hat for the Temperance Row Brewing Company, housed within Uptown Deli and Brew.

This is a favorite restaurant of ours. The food is simple, but tasty and I enjoy their locally brewed beers as well. And from a historical point of view, this restaurant is notable for being the first Westerville brewery since the temperance movement hit alcohol sales in the United States back in the early twentieth century.

As you may know, Westerville was a very important headquarters for the temperance movement before and during the Prohibition era in the United States. Westerville once called itself the Dry Capitol of the World. And it mailed information against the sale of alcohol across the globe from this (then) sleep town in central Ohio.

But those days are over. Prohibition ended in the 1930s, but Westerville remained dry until the 2000s. Now there is a museum for the movement in the local public library and information about the Anti-Saloon League. As well as a memorial statue on Main Street outside of City Hall. 

But we also have alcohol sales and many good restaurants and wine bars up and down that same Main Street. And if you look, you might see me on a summer weekend with a glass in hand, wearing the Temperance Row Brewing Co. hat--if it wins the most votes, that is.

Watch the video and cast your vote!