Our rendezvous with a "Happening"

"It is one thing to see a picture on the Science Channel, and quite something else to see the event in person. I have no words. It is something that if you can experience - it defies description."   

A few months ago, my wife and I were sitting in our sun room, having some fun discussions. Discussions like vacations plans for this year. The first thing out of my mouth was to go see the total eclipse in August. She looked at me like I had just taken a magic mushroom or two. "What eclipse? The one south of us?" she asked. I said yes. The totality zone is not that far south from us (I lied), and we could invite your cousin from Kansas to join us.

So it was hatched. The plan. Reservations were made. A "blip trip" was made to down to Nebraska to be in the 70 mile wide cone of "totality". This has not happened for 99 years. However, my wife then had to remind this very "hard headed" Bird one important fact  - "By the way Bird- your first granddaughter is also being born that week. And we have to take care of our grandson while all this happens!" Whoops!

Then I another thought. "The Great Minnesota Get Together"! That will be also be starting this week. If I missed the fair this year, I don't know if Dave or Rob would ever talk to me again!

A few days before we left for our eclipse trip, my wife had a serious discussion with me. "Tell me again, why we are going all the way through Iowa (which she hates) and then through the cornfields of Nebraska, just to see this eclipse? Remember, this is the week our first granddaughter is being born." 
   
Then it dawned on me - what the right answer was. I told her this was a "Happening". An old term from the 70's. Why a "Happening"? Because people from all over the country were going to converge in this very narrow 70 mile swath of land where for a whopping 2 minutes (and some seconds), will see day will become night - in the middle of the day.

My wife had reserved a "parking spot" at a hunting club a bit west of Grand Island, Nebraska. We left on on Sunday, traveled south, and spent the night just outside of Omaha (rooms were very hard to come by). The next morning (today), we got up in in the middle of heck of a thunderstorm. And the Marriott we are staying at is full of eclipse viewers. Everyone wanted to get out and on I-80 to start their journey out west. The problem was the thunderstorm. It was vicious, and everyone was trying to load up at the worst possible time.

Even though the traffic predictions for the event were horrible, and it was raining cats and dogs, we left anyhow. This after all, was a "Happening". We headed west through Omaha, then through Lincoln, and finally into Grand Island. The further we got west, the traffic mellowed at bit, and the sun came out. This is a good sign!  

Many viewing places is Grand Island had historic lines of cars waiting to get in. I told my wife I hoped the shooting range just outside of town (where were reservations made) was a whole lot better. Thankfully, it was. It was a gorgeous facility, friendly folks running it, and plenty of space. Score one for my wife in doing her research! 

We got set up, met some very nice folks from all over the country, and got ready to see some of God's finest handy work. The sky was still mostly clear, and the sun was now in almost full view. We were ready!

Let me say this about the "Happening" - better known as the total eclipse. If it is not on your bucket list to see one, put it on. We will have one more in 2024 which will hit a bit further south. Why is it important to see one? In the middle of a day, the day will turn into dusk (no - not dark - dusk), the temperature will drop, and the birds will silence. Trust me on this one, it is beyond eerie. Something man cannot duplicate.

More to report later on the fascinating stories we heard from people we met. Was it a long drive? Yes. Was the weather sketchy? Oh, yes - at first. Was the big event worth the drive, the expense, the waiting, when it happened? One hundred times, yes.

It is one thing to see a picture or a video on the Science Channel, and quite something else to see the event in person. I have no words. It is something that if you can experience - do it. It defies description which can be put into words.