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Speaker 2: Oh hi, it's the lady that's lasted aboard the plane
Speaker 2: on our way to see an eclipse. Here we go.
Speaker 2: So if you listened to last week's Heleology episode highly recommended,
Speaker 2: it's on the Sun and solar eclipses, you may know
Speaker 2: that I missed the twenty seventeen eclipse because I stayed
Speaker 2: home to work on and launched the podcast Ologies. I
Speaker 2: had some friends who went. People cried. It's been nearly
Speaker 2: seven years of regret. Then in March I had this
Speaker 2: big surgery and I wasn't sure if the results would
Speaker 2: yield me a big bubber diagnosis. When it came back clear,
Speaker 2: I told myself, perhaps ward we should go on a
Speaker 2: few adventures, but before this adventure. Huge thank you to
Speaker 2: everyone on Patreon who supports the making of the show.
Speaker 2: At patreon dot com slash Ologies, you two can join
Speaker 2: for one dollar a month and perhaps hear your name
Speaker 2: and your questions on the show. Also thank you to
Speaker 2: everyone supporting Ologies by wearing merch fromologiesmerch dot com. You
Speaker 2: can also always support the show for zero dollars just
Speaker 2: by leaving a review such as this nice one from Nishabeth,
Speaker 2: who wrote, I would love to hear an offshoot of
Speaker 2: oologies Ali's adventures with some of the peeps that you
Speaker 2: have interviewed that have invited you to the field Bear's Pelicans,
Speaker 2: Bugs Adventure Ali. Nishbeth, you have no idea how timely
Speaker 2: that is, because you're about to come with me to
Speaker 2: a lot of different places right now. Thanks for writing that.
Speaker 2: Thank you to everyone who's ever written a review. I've
Speaker 2: read it, so if you listen to Heliology from last week,
Speaker 2: you'll have a lot of the context and lead up
Speaker 2: to why this field trip Eclipse episode was so important.
Speaker 2: For me to make and of course that episode is
Speaker 2: linked to the show notes as well as my field
Speaker 2: trip mystery surgery episode. If you listen to that, they'll
Speaker 2: understand why. As soon as I got a green light
Speaker 2: I decided to maybe have a little bit more fun
Speaker 2: after a rough couple of years, so I booked a
Speaker 2: ticket to see the eclipse. It did not go according
Speaker 2: to plan? Did I make it? Was it fun? Did
Speaker 2: I see the corona, the panumber, the Bailey's beads, the
Speaker 2: inside of a cop car?
Speaker 3: What happened?
Speaker 2: Come along with me and several million others as we
Speaker 2: chase the Moon, chasing the Sun for a glimpse at
Speaker 2: our own insignificance. This one gets a little wild, lot
Speaker 2: of ups and downs, also airport sandwiches. In this field trip,
Speaker 2: I head to the solar eclipse like an umbra file.
Speaker 2: An umber file is someone who likes eclipses. How about
Speaker 2: a little background. So in twenty twenty four, a band
Speaker 2: of totality stretching across Central and North America on a
Speaker 2: diagonal like a beauty passiant sash millions of people going
Speaker 2: to see the moon covering up the Sun, which would
Speaker 2: also boost the US economy by six billion dollars. Where
Speaker 2: should you spend your money if you're going to see it? Well,
Speaker 2: the best option to see it was at lower latitudes
Speaker 2: where the weather has a lower chance of some meteorological
Speaker 2: sabotage because no clouds were not here to look at you.
Speaker 2: And this thing would be going from Maine to mast Lawn,
Speaker 2: So you have a lot of options. And my friend
Speaker 2: Derek Veritasium, he had a place with his family in Cerville, Texas,
Speaker 2: So I asked them if they thought that was a
Speaker 2: good spot, and they said they actually couldn't make it,
Speaker 2: and I could have their airbnb. And then I found
Speaker 2: out one of my best friends I've known since we
Speaker 2: were twelve, Sarah, was also headed to Caerville, Texas. Curvelt
Speaker 2: whatever hot damn things are working out. I got a
Speaker 2: free airbnb, my friends aren't going to use my the
Speaker 2: friend's going to be there, but rental cars were scarce.
Speaker 2: We as friends and family and oligites, and then somehow
Speaker 2: went on Toro popped up my friend Simone and I
Speaker 2: we're both headed to DC after this eclipse, so she
Speaker 2: got a ticket to join Dar night in Texas. However,
Speaker 2: Charit's Jujitsu Jim was having a belt promotion ceremony and
Speaker 2: they'd like him to be at and they hinted that
Speaker 2: he might want to be pressent for it, so we
Speaker 2: moved the trip back a few days to flying to
Speaker 2: Austin the day before the eclipse. I'm nervous. We have
Speaker 2: really early flights. I hear the drive from Austin to
Speaker 2: southwest Cerville, usually a two hour trip, may take up
Speaker 2: to twelve hours. My friend Catherine sends a video from
Speaker 2: her mom in Austin, empty shelves at the grocery store.
Speaker 2: It's like a quarantine flashback. The Texas Department of Transportation
Speaker 2: is putting porta potties along like a ninety mile route,
Speaker 2: and the Mayor of Cerville declares the event and emergency
Speaker 2: ahead of time in case they need immediate assistant from
Speaker 2: FEMA during the influx of people. By the way, we
Speaker 2: have a disasterrology episode with doctor Sam Montano. Highly recommend it.
Speaker 2: But either way, I've waited seven years for this. Texas
Speaker 2: is the place to see it. They're not going to
Speaker 2: have clouds. I've been on helicopters, a tiny bush plane,
Speaker 2: a military center refuge for TV shoots. I've driven through
Speaker 2: a tornado and an ice storm to get to work.
Speaker 2: I can handle eating protein bars for a few days
Speaker 2: and using a port potty for fun. And then the
Speaker 2: weather reports came. Texas is expecting thunderstorms right at the
Speaker 2: time of totality. So the day before we left this
Speaker 2: past Saturday, I talked to Jared. Okay, here's the deal.
Speaker 2: So right now we've got clouds in Texas, big big clouds.
Speaker 2: Vermont in Maine are supposed to be clear. Right if
Speaker 2: we change our flights to go instead of going to
Speaker 2: Austin to go.
Speaker 4: To Kerrville, which is declared a state of emergency and
Speaker 4: might have clouds, if we change the flights to Portland,
Speaker 4: Maine the day before we leave, I'm just saying, if
Speaker 4: is it bonkers to go.
Speaker 2: As long as we're going to spend money and time
Speaker 2: to just be like whoop.
Speaker 3: Hiccup?
Speaker 5: You tell me, I mean, are there places to stay
Speaker 5: in there? Is that gonna that's gonna be in the
Speaker 5: path we're saying. I don't even know where fucking Portland
Speaker 5: mean is.
Speaker 2: I can't. I just can't believe that it's flipped. Teagan
Speaker 2: has family in Buffalo, so she was gonna go up there.
Speaker 2: She's up there to see it in upstate New York.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 6: I don't know.
Speaker 7: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Let's go, let's go sleep in a car somewhere, you know.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Buffalo's right in the middle of it.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 5: Do we have places to stay if we go there?
Speaker 2: I mean, I could ask Teagan because camp in her yard.
Speaker 5: How would we get there?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I texted Simone that it might change.
Speaker 5: I know, you really want to see this thing.
Speaker 2: Simone says, oh shit, I'm down either way.
Speaker 8: That's good.
Speaker 2: I just figure like an adventure is an adventure. The
Speaker 2: sunk cost fallacy events a lot of people from going far.
Speaker 9: I agree, And I'm not looking forward to the idea
Speaker 9: of like driving like fucking crazy.
Speaker 2: You know, to sea Club.
Speaker 5: You know, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2: Teagan says, if we pivot, She says, if you can
Speaker 2: get to Buffalo or Rochester, we have couches, floors, et cetera.
Speaker 10: I think we should maybe do this, Okay, you know,
Speaker 10: well then let's let's fucking try that.
Speaker 5: Let's figure this out. It's fun.
Speaker 2: I think it's fun too. Ah, So we started immobilize.
Speaker 2: There are flights out of Burbank at seven fifteen eight ten,
Speaker 2: nine twenty five, and ten twenty five. They all get
Speaker 2: in at eight ten, so they all change planes in
Speaker 2: Las Vegas. It says one left on each of these,
Speaker 2: one seat left on each of them, but whatever like,
Speaker 2: and then from Vegas, it looks like we'd all be
Speaker 2: on the same plane. I say, fuck it, let's go amazing. Okay,
Speaker 2: one ticket down, babe, I got us flights. There were
Speaker 2: four left. I had my confirmation number already up, so
Speaker 2: I switched mine first. Oh no, oh no, huh oh no, no,
Speaker 2: no no no. Jared meanwhile was in the bathroom. There's
Speaker 2: been a complication, and I will tell you when you're
Speaker 2: out of the bathroom.
Speaker 5: Okay, what's the complication?
Speaker 2: So sorry, okay, So it looked like there was one
Speaker 2: flight available for each of those times. So I booked mine,
Speaker 2: and now there's no flights available. And that was just
Speaker 2: that one flight was showing up for all the departure times.
Speaker 2: Do you know what I'm saying. So it looked like
Speaker 2: there were four flights available. Anothers can call, Yeah, let's call.
Speaker 2: I booked myself.
Speaker 5: But well, I'm glad you're gonna see it.
Speaker 2: No, that's not what's happening.
Speaker 5: No, it's important.
Speaker 2: That's not what's happening. I couldn't.
Speaker 5: Thank you for going with airlines have a pleasure of
Speaker 5: speaking with names.
Speaker 2: Jared Sleeper, TLDR, No, Dice couldn't help us at all.
Speaker 11: Wow, I wonder if everybody's flying out for it, because
Speaker 11: we're completely.
Speaker 5: I think they are. I think they are shit.
Speaker 2: We FaceTime, Simon. I don't want to feel like I'm
Speaker 2: ditching you because I booked my ticket first, being like, okay,
Speaker 2: I have my con does it seem like I'm like, okay,
Speaker 2: well I'm set you guys, So good luck.
Speaker 11: You know, Kelly, there is not a single cell in
Speaker 11: my body that feels that way to you, And thank
Speaker 11: you for checking, thanks for fact checking your feelings. The
Speaker 11: two sources here, Derrett and I, Yeah, do not feel
Speaker 11: that way at all. It's quite the opposite of like
Speaker 11: it would be a bummer that you would miss out
Speaker 11: like you got a flight.
Speaker 2: It's fucking awesome.
Speaker 3: And also if I could choose for one.
Speaker 2: Of us to go, like obviously right right, So this
Speaker 2: is a peer reviewed study, double peer reviewed. Mm hmmm,
Speaker 2: I think it's a great idea for you to go.
Speaker 2: So Jarrett checks for flights into Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, but
Speaker 2: coming up empty, goose Egg decides just not to go.
Speaker 2: There's no flights. He's going to catch the next eclipse,
Speaker 2: maybe in twenty twenty six, if we decide to. But
Speaker 2: then later that night he goes and he finds a
Speaker 2: flight into Toronto, a few hours over the border. It's
Speaker 2: in Canada, there's one seat. It lands at eleven pm
Speaker 2: the night before the eclipse, so he'd land and then
Speaker 2: he'd drive two hours in the middle of the night
Speaker 2: across the Canadian border into New York to reach us
Speaker 2: in Buffalo, where there are clear skies. He goes for
Speaker 2: he gets a ticket, he finds a rental car. We're
Speaker 2: both just going to do this. K four fifty three.
Speaker 2: The day before me leave, we went back and forth.
Speaker 2: Decided I'm going to fly into Buffalo. I got those
Speaker 2: tickets for Buffalo. I got tickets singular. Simone's out, she's
Speaker 2: going to stay in LA a few more days, and
Speaker 2: Jarrett is flying into Toronto late at night, and then
Speaker 2: we're going to watch it between Rochester and Buffalo. And
Speaker 2: then the next day I head to DC. All right, Okay,
Speaker 2: so I'm going straight to Washington, d C. After the
Speaker 2: eclipse as a stembassador for the National STEM Festival. It's
Speaker 2: put on by the US Department of Education and Explore,
Speaker 2: which is cool. It's highlighting student solutions to global challenges
Speaker 2: in areas like the environment and food and energy and space.
Speaker 2: Very cool. That's right after the eclipse. So the morning
Speaker 2: of my departure this past Sunday, I just grabbed my
Speaker 2: stuff in chaos. I'm packing caphazardly. I'm wondering if I'm
Speaker 2: going to regret this in case they invite us to
Speaker 2: the White House and I have the wrong clothes underwears
Speaker 2: literally falling out of my backpack as I arrive at
Speaker 2: Burbank Airport. I'm just gonna get in there and do
Speaker 2: some repacking.
Speaker 3: Okay, are you? Are you sure?
Speaker 6: Yes?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I love you.
Speaker 5: I'll see you a little bit.
Speaker 3: I'll see you in Buffalo.
Speaker 2: I'll get the address from Tiegan, because I don't know
Speaker 2: where we're going. If you've ever flown Southwest, where there
Speaker 2: are no seat assignments and only boarding order, you may
Speaker 2: understand that my place in line at sea fifty five sucks.
Speaker 12: Shit.
Speaker 2: I'm the last aboard the plane and I stand before
Speaker 2: this like achingly full flight, but I'm happy. I'm happy
Speaker 2: to be there. Then I see a middle seat in
Speaker 2: row two, and the flight attendant whispers to me, those
Speaker 2: ladies know each other, and sure enough, when I asked
Speaker 2: to scoot in the middle, one the aisle passenger size
Speaker 2: as if I caught her in a lie and says,
Speaker 2: I'll just take the middle And I have a blessed
Speaker 2: aisle seat at the front of the plane, and these
Speaker 2: two ladies who are friends, have to sit next to
Speaker 2: each other. So the flight attendant kind of sneaks me
Speaker 2: a look as if to say like, see, don't let
Speaker 2: anyone bambooso leo, And I say, thanks, lady. Now on
Speaker 2: the flight, the attendant asks for a show of hands
Speaker 2: of who is Buffalo bound for the eclipse, and maybe
Speaker 2: a dozen of us on this full flight raise our hands.
Speaker 2: She's like, how many people are just coming home? And
Speaker 2: I craned my neck back to see eighty percent of
Speaker 2: the hands raised.
Speaker 3: I must you a beautiful clear size day tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Dplaning are mostly tired families returning from what must have
Speaker 2: been spring break, because there are flip flops, beach braids,
Speaker 2: there's tanned nine year olds, there's very little patients. One
Speaker 2: older couple is wrangling luggage through a crosswalk and they
Speaker 2: drop a bag, so I go to help them. The
Speaker 2: woman stares me right in the face and says, my
Speaker 2: daughter lives a life of chaos and this is the result.
Speaker 2: But they must also be eclipse chasers, and I relate
Speaker 2: heavily to her daughter, who a moment later pulls a
Speaker 2: rental car around and parks crookedly on the crosswalk. I
Speaker 2: get her. So in the crisp Buffalo night, I see
Speaker 2: Teacan smiling through the windshield of a rented minivan. Her
Speaker 2: brother Jeff, pops out of the shotgun seat and loads
Speaker 2: my luggage in the back. While I've been flying, clouds
Speaker 2: have rolled into Buffalo. Oh my god, how are you?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Doctor Wall We're coming to Baby's so
Speaker 2: glad you're here.
Speaker 13: A good chans are gonna get up tomorrow.
Speaker 6: We're gonna be driving, that's all right, based somewhere like.
Speaker 14: We're we're gonna find a fucking hole.
Speaker 2: Yes, you're not having me, all right, You're going to
Speaker 2: target first, okay, because all.
Speaker 6: Of the air mattresses that everyone has.
Speaker 13: Yes, no, we honestly can sleep anywhere.
Speaker 3: No, No, we're gonna choose.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, we're in the car.
Speaker 6: No no, no, no choosing.
Speaker 3: Okay, I get to get it.
Speaker 6: It's fine, Okay, I don't care.
Speaker 3: You can pay for it, Okay, deal. It's way cheaper
Speaker 3: than a hotel. And I don't even know if you
Speaker 3: could have found one.
Speaker 13: I don't think you could have.
Speaker 2: I know, I mean, is not that big.
Speaker 15: And there's literally like something like two minu billion people
Speaker 15: coming into town for this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's exciting.
Speaker 2: We hit target air mattress acquired. We walk into teaking
Speaker 2: aunts Shar's house to a chorus of dogs heralding the
Speaker 2: arrival of a sweaty, gross stranger.
Speaker 4: Who is me?
Speaker 2: Now? This house it has that blissful feeling of like
Speaker 2: common home to families. Like there's kids asleep upstairs, baby
Speaker 2: monitors droning at the end of the dining room table.
Speaker 2: All the adults are still awake. There are bowls of
Speaker 2: jelly beans and em and M's and her family is laughing,
Speaker 2: playing at dice game.
Speaker 5: Okay, double nine, now it goes to doubles.
Speaker 2: Everyone is instantly welcoming and warm, including that barking dog Sadie,
Speaker 2: who quickly learns that I am a reliable source of
Speaker 2: pets and hugs, and that I can sent easily to
Speaker 2: have my face licked by dogs. I've just met four.
Speaker 5: Five nine.
Speaker 2: That was the fourth Rolls game over. Maybe because after
Speaker 2: pivoting from Texas thunderstorms at the last minute for those
Speaker 2: clear skies of Buffalo, the Buffalo clouds are gathering first
Speaker 2: just a few and then.
Speaker 9: Whether you want to get in front of it or
Speaker 9: try and get behind it, I don't know.
Speaker 8: Now that it's getting closer. I'm looking at forecasts and
Speaker 8: different weather modeling. Let's see, there's Toronto.
Speaker 14: Let's go, so right now at two pm, Buffalo is
Speaker 14: scheduled to have a eighty three percent guy covering in
Speaker 14: the clouds.
Speaker 8: At two pm at two pm.
Speaker 14: But if we wanted to go all the way out
Speaker 14: to Watertown is like fifty five.
Speaker 8: Chance. See, I'm kind of watching that weather. That weather.
Speaker 8: This is cloud cover as of right now.
Speaker 2: Like a military operation, we gather around to weigh our
Speaker 2: odds and plot the course.
Speaker 8: Here's Eerie, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Toronto, and so we're
Speaker 8: sitting like right in there, so.
Speaker 5: We might be able to look out if we go.
Speaker 8: Down to Erie.
Speaker 2: There's really not much we can do now, but just
Speaker 2: get some rest on the air mattress which is now
Speaker 2: inflating in the living room.
Speaker 5: We'll shake it again in the morning.
Speaker 8: So we'll see. It's just like roll the dice. Do
Speaker 8: you go in front of that band of clouds or
Speaker 8: you try and traveler can't hide the vand clouds?
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh, a roll of the dice game. Indeed, we'll see.
Speaker 5: We're in it for the adventure.
Speaker 8: We'll see.
Speaker 2: This is what number files deal with. Okay, So Tiket's
Speaker 2: brother Jeff just said, no matter what, tomorrow, we will
Speaker 2: see something obscuring the sun. Nice will it be the
Speaker 2: moon or the clouds covering the moon covering the sun.
Speaker 2: We're at eighty three percent chance of the sky being
Speaker 2: covered at three PM during the eclipse in Buffalo.
Speaker 3: So we're gonna wake up.
Speaker 2: We're going to see what the weather report says, and
Speaker 2: then we're gonna see if we're going to head two
Speaker 2: like Cleveland or Watertown, which might be really long traffic,
Speaker 2: but that's what we're here for umbrophilia, not for the
Speaker 2: week of Constitution. We'll see what we see. So it's
Speaker 2: eleven PM. Jared has just landed in Canada, and he
Speaker 2: has customs and a two hour drive ahead. I meanwhile,
Speaker 2: not off in my airplane clothes, which is disgusting on
Speaker 2: this fresh new air mattress. And at two thirty in
Speaker 2: the morning, Shar's front door clicks open and Sadie erupts
Speaker 2: in a barking that we are sure we'll wake the
Speaker 2: four babies and toddlers upstairs, but we WinCE. We bribe
Speaker 2: Sadi with biscuits and pets and pets and snuggles, and
Speaker 2: then we slip under a quilt on the air mattress
Speaker 2: to sleep like the dead. Now the next morning, still
Speaker 2: on Pacific time, US Californians sleep in until nine or ten,
Speaker 2: and then jump out of bed, still in yesterday's clothes,
Speaker 2: to look at the weather. It's the day of the eclipse. Okay,
Speaker 2: that's It's ten seventeen am Buffalo local time. There is
Speaker 2: not a not cloud in the sky, it's all I
Speaker 2: cannot see a patch of guys, so we're going to
Speaker 2: see what happens. But right now it is one clouded
Speaker 2: over over. Some of the best donuts I've ever had
Speaker 2: in my life from Paula's in Buffalo hit them up.
Speaker 2: We decide we're going to drive, and we got to
Speaker 2: go now. So we trip over our own legs putting
Speaker 2: on shoes. We grab the eclipse glasses and recording equipment,
Speaker 2: and race to the rental cars. I don't even bother
Speaker 2: with a bra. Seven years I've waited for this. It's
Speaker 2: eleven thirty six. We've got four hours, three and a
Speaker 2: half hours.
Speaker 3: Until the eclipse. Clouds. We got a lot of clouds.
Speaker 2: It's all clouds, but over the lake, which is I
Speaker 2: believe Lake Erie, because we're close to Erie, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3: I need to look at a map, Pennsylvania. Don't email me.
Speaker 2: I think that we're going to try to keep heading
Speaker 2: that way and we'll hope that the clouds don't blow
Speaker 2: our way chasing eclipses. So on the drive, we past
Speaker 2: miles and miles of still bare branched trees and hawks
Speaker 2: perched on telephone poles. I see smatterings of these yellow
Speaker 2: daffodils poking through the dead winter grasses. At one point
Speaker 2: I look over and see a flash of this classic
Speaker 2: car in the woods that's rusting into pieces. All of
Speaker 2: this scenery under a still cloudy sky. As we head west,
Speaker 2: braced for a bummer let's be honest now from California.
Speaker 2: My friends are checking in, and my good buddy Mackenzie
Speaker 2: sends it a CLIPS playlist with songs like Eclipse by
Speaker 2: Pink Floyd, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Ain't no sunshine,
Speaker 2: It's a banger. We're still under the clouds, driving and
Speaker 2: Tigan has come down with the stomach bug that her
Speaker 2: and her husband's children have, But despite her nausea and fatigue,
Speaker 2: she is meticulously watching the weather and navigating us toward
Speaker 2: the best odds for a clear sky between bouts of
Speaker 2: barf bags in the back of their minivan. So we
Speaker 2: proceed southwest along a ninety crossing from New York into Pennsylvania,
Speaker 2: still under the cover of clouds and mounting anxiety about disappointment.
Speaker 3: What did you think it was going to be like?
Speaker 3: Shady shady?
Speaker 6: Do you think it becomes a nighttime?
Speaker 3: Apparently, pretty much.
Speaker 2: Like the stars come out, the birds get confused because
Speaker 2: they think it's.
Speaker 3: Night and they think it's morning.
Speaker 2: And so I'm telling me that's almost like a sunset
Speaker 2: three sixty, but I don't know about that.
Speaker 13: And then.
Speaker 2: You always see a break in the clouds, like the
Speaker 2: tidiest slice of hope.
Speaker 6: Now that we're gonna see it.
Speaker 3: I don't say it if we're gonna see it, I
Speaker 3: mean I think we're gonna see it.
Speaker 6: That we gotta be able to get over there before
Speaker 6: it happens.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, that's blue sky sky got that's a big
Speaker 2: Patches guy.
Speaker 3: The blue sky is very promising.
Speaker 2: We're crossing into Ohio, which is apparently the hard of
Speaker 2: it all.
Speaker 6: Some of us crossed the international borders to be here.
Speaker 2: It's true, some of us did so. After the flights
Speaker 2: and the changes and the midnight drives and wearing no
Speaker 2: bra and a dirty shirt, it's starting to look good.
Speaker 2: Could this happen?
Speaker 10: All?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: So we're about thirty miles away from where we're going.
Speaker 2: I think we're going to stop and grab a little lunch,
Speaker 2: and then we're thirty minutes out. It's two hours until
Speaker 2: the eclipse. Right, I'm feeling much better seeing some blue sky.
Speaker 2: I think all of us are feeling less despondent.
Speaker 3: I think that's good.
Speaker 2: I keep replaying in my mind like if I had
Speaker 2: a time machine, would I do this over again?
Speaker 3: If it were cloudy?
Speaker 2: If it were cloudy, I feel like it's a no.
Speaker 2: I would have stayed home, So this is good.
Speaker 3: Stay tuned.
Speaker 2: We're going from like a tiny patch of blue sky
Speaker 2: to smaller patches of clouds.
Speaker 3: So this is good.
Speaker 6: It's serious.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I'm gonta look it up.
Speaker 9: Serious.
Speaker 3: I think they're serious, sir.
Speaker 6: Camp trails looking beautiful Camp trails.
Speaker 3: They're seating the clouds for us, babe, all right.
Speaker 6: They're seeding the clouds because they're trying to prevent us
Speaker 6: from absorbing the eclipse energies.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, they.
Speaker 6: Don't want us to charge our crystals. So clearly there's.
Speaker 9: Spraying some stuff up there, cover up to heliotar energies
Speaker 9: because it's going to break us free from all five
Speaker 9: g The helio letter energies are gonna cure my vaccine.
Speaker 3: They could cure your vaccine. Yeah.
Speaker 2: This aspect of the discussion is amusing to me because
Speaker 2: it is employing a comedic technique called verbal irony, whereby
Speaker 2: his comments become funny because they don't represent his genuine thoughts. Now,
Speaker 2: this is distinct from situational irony, such as, for example,
Speaker 2: when we decided to fly into Texas to avoid clouds,
Speaker 2: but Texas got shit weather, so we flew into buffalo
Speaker 2: for cloudless guys, which then became cloudy but then became
Speaker 2: clear due to relocation, which at this moment, I don't
Speaker 2: know if I find any that funny, but I am
Speaker 2: happy also because we could all use a potty break.
Speaker 2: We stop at a Steak and Shake, which is populated
Speaker 2: with the people in booths wearing various commemorative black eclipse shirts,
Speaker 2: which gives things a very thrash metal aesthetic. Look at
Speaker 2: all the people in the parking lot next door, a
Speaker 2: Walmart parking lot is filling up with cars and RVs
Speaker 2: and people with camping chairs and coolers and eclipse glasses
Speaker 2: at the ready, and I see an older man though
Speaker 2: in the Stake and Shake parking lot. It's about ninety
Speaker 2: minutes to totality, but he sits alone next to his
Speaker 2: sedan in a folding chair, and I ask if he's
Speaker 2: waiting for the eclipse and says he drove in from
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh just to see it. He says he's seventy six
Speaker 2: and knows that this is his only chance. We give
Speaker 2: him an extra pair of eclipse glasses in case needs them,
Speaker 2: and I tell him I hope that the cloud's part
Speaker 2: for him. Then we get in the car. We sold
Speaker 2: her on another ten miles to Walnut Beach Park, Ohio,
Speaker 2: and we pull up to a spot along a residential
Speaker 2: street and grab our coats and are now cold. Lunch
Speaker 2: perfectly timed. We run into the rest of our crew.
Speaker 6: Oh you guys look familiar.
Speaker 3: What the heck?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I'm so exciting. It's looking very very good. Folks.
Speaker 2: Stay put for the eclipse, but first a quick pitstop
Speaker 2: to donate to a charity of this week, and it'll
Speaker 2: go to Functional Magic, which is a nonprofit design studio
Speaker 2: making optimistic pop artworks, merch and media inspired by solutions
Speaker 2: to climate change, with all proceeds benefiting various climate charities.
Speaker 2: The art they produce is gorgeous, The causes are well
Speaker 2: vetted and they are linked in the show notes Functionalmagic
Speaker 2: dot Org. And one sponsor of the show, even though
Speaker 2: they don't realize it, is veritassium, Derek Mueller, Thank you
Speaker 2: so much for giving us an airbnb in Texas that
Speaker 2: we did not use. But if you're not familiar, veritassium
Speaker 2: is impeccably produced and hosted channel of science and engineering videos,
Speaker 2: so you can find veritassium on YouTube and thank you
Speaker 2: to Derek and all of the Tassiums for your generous
Speaker 2: accommodations in Texas that we did not use. And thank
Speaker 2: you to other sponsors of the show. Okay, so we're parked.
Speaker 2: We drove three states to a small waterfront town in
Speaker 2: Ohio and the skies overhead are mostly blue and I've
Speaker 2: pulled out the real audio equipment. I'm so excited. I
Speaker 2: really have been prepared to be disappointed me. I've been like,
Speaker 2: you know, it's.
Speaker 3: Fine, I don't really do hope.
Speaker 2: So it's true you don't do hope well, I think
Speaker 2: you don't do disappointment well. So you do hope in
Speaker 2: accordance with how much you can handle disappointments.
Speaker 9: What's funny aout disappointment is you'd think, like most things,
Speaker 9: you get better with practice.
Speaker 6: I think it's.
Speaker 2: Worse because every time you're disappointed, it's.
Speaker 6: Just takes a little more out of you.
Speaker 3: I feel that.
Speaker 12: Do you want to bring your hat?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 2: It's less than one hour to totality, and the light
Speaker 2: looks dimmer already, so we check through our paper eclipse
Speaker 2: glasses to see that the first stage has started. The
Speaker 2: moon has taken its first nibble of light and we're
Speaker 2: already on to the second stage, where the moon is
Speaker 2: covering the sun more and more, and we hustle toward
Speaker 2: this big gathered crowd on the sand and an adjacent lawn.
Speaker 2: All right, first stage has started. We're in a place
Speaker 2: called Ashtabulah. Ashtabulah, sorry, Ohio. We're near the waterfront, so
Speaker 2: the moon is starting to take a bite out of
Speaker 2: the sun and we're walking down to the beach. I
Speaker 2: thought we had a little more time.
Speaker 13: Can I steal one of those glasses. I just want
Speaker 13: to see where we're at with it. Ah, Oh my god,
Speaker 13: it has started.
Speaker 2: Oh that's amazing. Okay, Jared, did you look?
Speaker 10: Oh?
Speaker 13: I know it started.
Speaker 3: Here?
Speaker 2: Can we stop for one second to recombobulate my So
Speaker 2: I gather my items and nerves, and I wonder if
Speaker 2: I should interview strangers. And I don't know why I
Speaker 2: even hesitate, That's what I do for a job. And
Speaker 2: there's a group of like six folks sitting on patio
Speaker 2: furniture in their yard. I'm guessing because of their kind
Speaker 2: of jovial nature, I'm going to assume they're retired or
Speaker 2: they may have just started the morning with mimosas with
Speaker 2: lots of them.
Speaker 13: You guys have a good spot. Yeah, is this your house?
Speaker 13: We traveled from California. You guys went to your patio.
Speaker 8: You don't find a pla slice it down on the beach.
Speaker 16: Nice.
Speaker 13: I have some new friends.
Speaker 2: Enjoy we post up. The clouds are just wisps and
Speaker 2: a few airplane contrails grid the sky. Also, I'm seeing
Speaker 2: vape clouds coming from the lawn. People getting spooky. Look,
Speaker 2: there's a bunch of people at the beach.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, hear there.
Speaker 2: As the stage two moon eases its way onto the
Speaker 2: sun and the light around this is turning cooler, gray
Speaker 2: and blue. I run off to talk to strangers. Hey,
Speaker 2: I have a question. I have a science podcast. I'm
Speaker 2: just wondering how far you guys traveled, Marls eight hours.
Speaker 2: I came from California, Yeah, a little bit. I hitchhiked,
Speaker 2: so it took me six months. Okay, Maryland.
Speaker 13: I hope you guys enjoy it. Excited.
Speaker 2: Oh hi, I was just asking people how far you
Speaker 2: traveled to be here?
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh, Okay, that's not that far, right, A couple of hours,
Speaker 2: that's all.
Speaker 17: Three shout out of Pittsburgh from Virginia.
Speaker 2: From Virginia.
Speaker 3: How long is that? Thanks?
Speaker 2: Sixcess six hours?
Speaker 3: Pretty good.
Speaker 18: We had first thing to go towards the Pennsylvania side.
Speaker 6: Then we came over here.
Speaker 2: And have you seen an eclipse before?
Speaker 12: No?
Speaker 17: This is yeah, me too. Everyone I know who's seen
Speaker 17: one cries. Okay, get your tissues ready. Apparently well enjoy,
Speaker 17: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Central Pennsylvania's about three and a half
Speaker 2: to four hours.
Speaker 19: We're from Delaware, Delaware, and that's my husband over there.
Speaker 3: So that's quite a telescope.
Speaker 13: Yeah, it's pretty cool. He's getting good pictures.
Speaker 14: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Have you seen a solar clicks? Yeah?
Speaker 19: Yeah, we were in Colombia in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2: Did you cry?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 6: But what was really cool?
Speaker 2: I thought?
Speaker 19: These guys laugh at me, But like we're all it's
Speaker 19: just a weird moment. You're standing in all and then
Speaker 19: we don't know what to do because you're kind of
Speaker 19: in all. And then somebody starts clapping, and next thing
Speaker 19: you know, everybody's clapping.
Speaker 2: Who clapped at the sky? But we did excited. That's
Speaker 2: good to know. Now I know the protocol. I've never
Speaker 2: seen one before. I don't know that that's a protocol.
Speaker 13: It's really cool, Like.
Speaker 15: We would not have known how cool it was about
Speaker 15: us just having been in an area where it was happening.
Speaker 15: And now it's like, I'll travel. I'll travel in twenty
Speaker 15: forty or whatever. The next one is like, I'll go
Speaker 15: chase the You know.
Speaker 2: That there's a word for that. It's called umbre files.
Speaker 2: An umbra means shadow, so umbra files. If you are
Speaker 2: a clips chapers, a shapers, sachase umber files, eclips chasers,
Speaker 2: but one.
Speaker 3: A lot of other understood.
Speaker 13: Yes, well, enjoy. I'll be clapping along with you.
Speaker 20: How far we came in from Washington, d C. Six hours?
Speaker 20: Maybe about three hundred and eighty miles. Did you see
Speaker 20: the twenty seventeen uh partial?
Speaker 3: Oh this is your first total?
Speaker 2: I think so? Yeah, mine too. I'm hoping to have
Speaker 2: an epiphany that changes my whole life. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 20: Well, I'm hoping to feel my sense of scale in
Speaker 20: the universe, especially in light of the tantrums that I
Speaker 20: survived this morning. That's my three and five year old
Speaker 20: over there, who are not feeling the magnificence of the moment.
Speaker 20: They just want Eminem's and fruit snacks. So we're all
Speaker 20: in it for our own gain, aren't we? Whatever we need?
Speaker 20: My husband made us strive here. I would have watched
Speaker 20: this on the internet, but we spent seven hours in
Speaker 20: the car with the three and five year old, so
Speaker 20: this better be magnificent.
Speaker 2: I'm hoping for only the best.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 13: We came from Deuver, Delaware.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, that's a waste.
Speaker 13: Did you guys see the twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2: Well in Delaware? It was a partially clips but it
Speaker 2: was cool still, you know, but it's.
Speaker 13: Not something you see every day. But we did bring our.
Speaker 7: Son because obviously I don't think we're going to be
Speaker 7: around in twenty forty four.
Speaker 2: When yeah, the next one is the next one, you'll
Speaker 2: be here?
Speaker 13: Yeah, who knows?
Speaker 2: I probably will, Given that we stopped at Shaken Steak
Speaker 2: on the way, we were probably not going to be
Speaker 2: here for the next one.
Speaker 6: No, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: I walked up to a guy with this long lens
Speaker 2: camera on a tripod who was also setting up a
Speaker 2: go pro. I think he was prepared. You look like
Speaker 2: you've got a good rig for this.
Speaker 16: Yeah, it's a it's all Sony equipment. D you have
Speaker 16: just over threeundred miles up from Virginia to come into
Speaker 16: the path of totality.
Speaker 2: Did you check the weather?
Speaker 3: And check the weather?
Speaker 2: That's what we did. We were every hour seemed like oh,
Speaker 2: I like barely slept last night.
Speaker 16: And plenty of YouTube videos were forecasters all saying different things,
Speaker 16: so I wasn't sure until really last night.
Speaker 13: Yeah.
Speaker 2: We flew into Buffalo from La Buffalo is clouded over.
Speaker 2: So then we drove here and our friends in the
Speaker 2: other car were just minute by minute Doppler being like,
Speaker 2: where is it going to be here? But it looks
Speaker 2: like it's going to be clear.
Speaker 3: Enough to see.
Speaker 18: Yeah, it's totality.
Speaker 2: Have you seen totality before?
Speaker 12: My first?
Speaker 21: Me too?
Speaker 13: Oh, I'm excited.
Speaker 16: Me too. I know I'm trying to contain myself.
Speaker 13: I know, me too, me too.
Speaker 2: We were trying to contain our potential disappointment when we
Speaker 2: saw the clouds, who were like, Okay, might not happen,
Speaker 2: might not happen some When we saw clear skies, we
Speaker 2: were just elated.
Speaker 16: So I almost made the trip to Texas.
Speaker 2: We had tickets to go to Texas really, and then
Speaker 2: we changed them two days ago because of the storms.
Speaker 11: Oh.
Speaker 16: Same, Well, I'd have tickets, spous when I'm drive down there. Yeah,
Speaker 16: just make a road trip out of it. And then
Speaker 16: the last minute I saw the forecast, said no, I
Speaker 16: think I'll took a gambling come in this direction.
Speaker 2: Good gamble, Yeah, good gamble. We made the right choice.
Speaker 13: Well enjoy. It'll be my first hospitality too, so cool.
Speaker 13: Nice to do you.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Remember the woman whose kids were just in it for
Speaker 2: the em and MS, who was fine with watching it
Speaker 2: on the internet. Well, I walked past her again and
Speaker 2: it turns out that she'd been gently coerced by more
Speaker 2: than just her husband.
Speaker 13: Excuse me, Yeah, are you Ali?
Speaker 18: I am Hi?
Speaker 13: Nice to meet. I love your podcast. Oh no, are
Speaker 13: you serious?
Speaker 22: Hi?
Speaker 20: Like I think that Ali Ward and like google a
Speaker 20: picture like no, I think all the thanks. I actually
Speaker 20: listened to the heliology. I threatened not to come. Are
Speaker 20: you serious?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 6: Well, they made it.
Speaker 20: Sound pretty cool, so I guess I will come.
Speaker 13: Because I was having a chance. I was like, I'm
Speaker 13: not riding in the car with these too.
Speaker 21: Have it?
Speaker 11: You know?
Speaker 12: We were supposed to be in Texas.
Speaker 13: Yeah, and then we wound up in this park. Yes,
Speaker 13: my husband I told him.
Speaker 20: I was like, I'm going to be so mad. But
Speaker 20: then I listened to a podcast, so I went, that's amazing.
Speaker 13: And then here we are, finally nice. Here we're supposed
Speaker 13: to be in Texas. It's like, that can't be right.
Speaker 13: I'm so glad, your man. I'll be up on that
Speaker 13: hill crying.
Speaker 11: Well.
Speaker 13: Enjoy, I will meet. This is what my life looks like.
Speaker 2: Covered in children.
Speaker 13: Enjoy, Hi Joy.
Speaker 17: Thanks for saying that's cool.
Speaker 13: That's really cute.
Speaker 2: After seven years of regret, a really rough few years,
Speaker 2: two interviews with heliologists, and a long episode about it,
Speaker 2: two countries, four states, it looks like we're going to
Speaker 2: see this thing. Teagan is the only one who's seen
Speaker 2: a solar eclipse, and she gives me the lowdown of
Speaker 2: what to expect and why she was willing to stifle
Speaker 2: her stomach bug and drive several hours today with her
Speaker 2: weird friends who crash in her aunt's house, which is
Speaker 2: us and her brother and parents and husband and two
Speaker 2: tiny children.
Speaker 18: Ah, that's looking so good, y'all.
Speaker 3: This is nuts.
Speaker 18: We just made it.
Speaker 2: Hey, Tegan, do you want to give us a primer
Speaker 2: on what to expect when the eclipse happens.
Speaker 14: I can give a little bit based on the last one.
Speaker 13: Yeah, how did it?
Speaker 3: What did it seem like?
Speaker 22: Uh?
Speaker 14: So, it gets chilly and all of the animals start
Speaker 14: to like go home, like it's the end of the day.
Speaker 14: The birds, I'll go home to russet. You start to
Speaker 14: hear like crickets and stuff. And then when you take
Speaker 14: your glasses off, you see like a sunset or a
Speaker 14: sunrise in every direction. It's like three hundred and sixty
Speaker 14: degrees sunset and sunrise. And then when you realize that
Speaker 14: you can look directly at it, it looks like there's
Speaker 14: just a giant hole in the sky with the corona
Speaker 14: coming out behind it.
Speaker 2: It's really cool.
Speaker 14: What are you most excited about for the eclipse?
Speaker 3: The moon? It's the moon's big day.
Speaker 2: I took my place on top of my jacket on
Speaker 2: the lawn. Have you stared directly at the sun yet?
Speaker 2: On accident? Chair?
Speaker 5: Of course, yeah, me too.
Speaker 6: It wasn't on accident, it was also on accent.
Speaker 5: I've done a little class.
Speaker 2: Are the birds starting to sing or is that just
Speaker 2: regular birds? I think that's just regular birds. It gets
Speaker 2: darker and a chill comes over us. I'm lying on
Speaker 2: the grass with one microphone on my chest and the
Speaker 2: other one pointed toward the crowd behind me.
Speaker 14: I will say, I'm noticing shadows are looking a lot sharper.
Speaker 14: If you look around, everything looks like it's got an
Speaker 14: Instagram filter on it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 2: It's definitely dim. It's kind of like a grayish hall
Speaker 2: to everything. Yeah, like the saturation went down, but the
Speaker 2: contrast went up.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so strange.
Speaker 14: And when you see the Baileys beads, that's when you
Speaker 14: know totalities like moments away.
Speaker 6: Oh wow, it's really crescy.
Speaker 2: It's happening much faster than I thought I would old line.
Speaker 2: It's weird because it's kind of like dusk, but instead
Speaker 2: of having warmth to it, it's kind of a cold light,
Speaker 2: you know, so like dusk has so much golden light.
Speaker 3: Decides to experience this with you.
Speaker 18: I love that you're here and that I'm here too.
Speaker 18: Did I just hear a rooster?
Speaker 12: Was that a rooster or a child?
Speaker 2: The moon kept creeping over the Sun through the eclipse glasses,
Speaker 2: and the only light was this diminishing amber crescent of
Speaker 2: the Sun, just getting smaller and smaller and smaller.
Speaker 12: Oh my gosh, look at how skiddy. It's getting It's
Speaker 12: like a little toenail up there.
Speaker 2: Through the glasses. It just looks like a Halloween crescent moon.
Speaker 3: Feel an emotion at all?
Speaker 2: I don't know what, but it's cool. We are somehow
Speaker 2: my anxiety has found a way to even be anxious
Speaker 2: about this, Like what am I going to feel like
Speaker 2: when it happens? But I think that's just excitement that
Speaker 2: I'm filing into the wrong folder.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: It's cool that there's just like nothing left to do
Speaker 2: but just lay down on the lawn and watch. I
Speaker 2: wonder what it's like in Texas and Buffalo right now.
Speaker 2: It's funny how eclipse chasing is really a lot about
Speaker 2: weather watching.
Speaker 5: I feel like it is suddenly not like.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it did get colder.
Speaker 6: Oh, we really rely on that freaky sun.
Speaker 9: Huheesh, dude, it is looking trippy out here.
Speaker 2: It's definitely getting a weird eclipse.
Speaker 6: Oh, it's so cool.
Speaker 2: It feels like a horror film.
Speaker 6: It's like it's definitely cold.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's the weirdest start. This is a weird jark.
Speaker 6: It kind of feels like I'm still wearing my sunglasses.
Speaker 13: Wow, just a.
Speaker 15: Little, it's just a little upside.
Speaker 3: Don't smile.
Speaker 16: I know.
Speaker 2: At this point we were just a few minutes away
Speaker 2: from totality and the clouds had pretty much drifted away
Speaker 2: from the Sun. We were so lucky. And with solar
Speaker 2: binoculars you could see the shape of the Moon's texture
Speaker 2: and outline, and as it eclipses the Sun, that geography
Speaker 2: of the moon causes small leaks of light around the rim,
Speaker 2: and those are called Bailey's beads, or if there's just
Speaker 2: one of them, a diamond ring. And the atmosphere around
Speaker 2: all of us was dimming to this deeper dusky level.
Speaker 2: Look at how dark it's good. That is so weird,
Speaker 2: it's really surreal. Give me kind of goose swamps like
Speaker 2: a little creepy crawley on your neck.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: So, just a minute or so away from totality, and
Speaker 2: a few pinholes and a piece of paper resulted in
Speaker 2: a little handful of crescents.
Speaker 13: Oh, look at that.
Speaker 12: It looks like a cheese greater.
Speaker 2: Wow. Isn't it kind of amazing how much light there
Speaker 2: is considering how much of the sun is.
Speaker 6: Seeah, like the little slivers like still blind?
Speaker 14: Yeah, Ali stood up and look around a little bit.
Speaker 8: Oh, my god.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's weird.
Speaker 22: Yeah, you can see them.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it's like wavy. Is that like? So
Speaker 2: in the Heliology episode last week, we talked about shadow bands,
Speaker 2: these racing, waving, alternating light and shadow shimmers that become
Speaker 2: apparent on the ground or on light colored surfaces, and
Speaker 2: those things still mystify heliologists. They're not quite sure where
Speaker 2: they come from. And after talking about them in the
Speaker 2: last week's episode, shadow bands seem like this mythical creature
Speaker 2: I've only read about. It was like catching a glimpse
Speaker 2: of a unicorn through the trees. And then a circular
Speaker 2: rainbow appeared above us in the sky.
Speaker 18: Look at the rainbow.
Speaker 6: Look at this rainbows?
Speaker 13: Oh weird.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, weird.
Speaker 13: Now that's the moon the sun.
Speaker 11: There's a moon bloat.
Speaker 13: Oh my god, Oh look this is I told you guys. Wow,
Speaker 13: I definitely like, how close are we jet.
Speaker 2: A star?
Speaker 6: Give me a second?
Speaker 2: And then that's a star.
Speaker 21: Oh my god, Oh my god, oh my god, oh.
Speaker 23: Hew, wow, wow, so nice.
Speaker 13: Oh my god. Look at the look at the like,
Speaker 13: oh my god, wow, look at that.
Speaker 16: You can still see it's like cloud.
Speaker 23: Oh whoa, my god, Oh my god, that's.
Speaker 2: The level of surreality is difficult to comprehend unless you've
Speaker 2: been under this god.
Speaker 7: You can almost see like, ah, do you see like
Speaker 7: the one diamond ring? Oh wow, the sense in every
Speaker 7: direction is really weird.
Speaker 2: Oh that's so beautiful. Look at the Look at how
Speaker 2: did it?
Speaker 13: How did we not get any wilds?
Speaker 4: Right now?
Speaker 22: There was one and it just got out of the way.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's so surreal.
Speaker 3: It's so surreal.
Speaker 5: Look at all the people.
Speaker 2: I've never seen something so otherworldly, so surreal, And part
Speaker 2: of the awe is how transient it is. It's not
Speaker 2: something that you can take in for as long as
Speaker 2: you like, or go back and revisit. You can't be
Speaker 2: anything but in a moment that is huge and communal
Speaker 2: and rare and fleeting and visually stunning. It's a void
Speaker 2: in the sky rimmed in these sparkling rays, and hundreds
Speaker 2: of people around you are gasping and crying and cackling
Speaker 2: and making a memory that will last until death. And
Speaker 2: it was dark still in totality, and we're staring up
Speaker 2: at this glowing golden ring of light in otherwise darkness.
Speaker 7: Yeah, wow, do you see that?
Speaker 3: Look at that?
Speaker 2: Look at this tree?
Speaker 3: Like, I mean, it's like my time. It's really chilly,
Speaker 3: isn't it.
Speaker 2: It's so cool, it's so cold.
Speaker 3: It's really.
Speaker 5: This starts for a while.
Speaker 2: In a way that it's like I have such a
Speaker 2: lump in my throat about it.
Speaker 6: Oh, I've cried a couple of times.
Speaker 2: No, I mean, but it's like my like chest feels heavy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like it's so big. God, that's weird.
Speaker 13: I'm so glad we came out from that. It's so cool.
Speaker 5: It's so cool.
Speaker 13: That's one of the closest things I've ever seen in
Speaker 13: my life.
Speaker 2: Look at that corona, look at that one contrail.
Speaker 13: So fun, I would confusion.
Speaker 2: We're getting.
Speaker 3: I can't believe this.
Speaker 2: Once on a morning walk, my dog hopped through some
Speaker 2: grass like a bunny, and it was so cute. It
Speaker 2: made me cry. And this sensation was similar. It's like
Speaker 2: when you watch videos of someone finding out that they
Speaker 2: got into their dream college, or when you see a
Speaker 2: surprise reunion of loved ones. You watch that and you
Speaker 2: cry in empathy at how happy they must be and
Speaker 2: how life can just work out sometimes. And part of
Speaker 2: that weird crying and awe was just appreciation that so
Speaker 2: many people could see something so beautiful, lasting only a
Speaker 2: few minutes, and also some happiness and relief that we
Speaker 2: had made this happen for myself and Jared Simone. Six.
Speaker 2: So as the moon plods on, this glimmer re emerges.
Speaker 2: It's now going into stage three where it's receding, and
Speaker 2: it's now a partial eclipse, and the light is still
Speaker 2: dim and the air is still chilly, but we're on
Speaker 2: the other side. We're cruising downhill from that summit, even
Speaker 2: with just a sliver of the sun showing already daylight
Speaker 2: is back.
Speaker 22: Wow. Look, oh god, that's wild.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I gotta look at it.
Speaker 13: Look at it.
Speaker 2: I don't even know where.
Speaker 6: I burned my eyes. I couldn't been and it just
Speaker 6: gets so much burner.
Speaker 22: Wow.
Speaker 13: There's some people being like, Okay, that's enough, that's weak. Yeah,
Speaker 13: so I'm trying to be the.
Speaker 2: In an instant. Some folks are already hopping in their
Speaker 2: car to avoid like a ten minute traffic out of
Speaker 2: the park. But we linger for a while, still taking
Speaker 2: in these crisp shadows, and I finally eat my soggy lunch,
Speaker 2: not realizing I'd been hungry.
Speaker 8: No, it's under hyped.
Speaker 6: You really can't type that enough.
Speaker 9: Primal stuff that is insane.
Speaker 6: Last time I left. It's so crazy.
Speaker 13: The rainbows the moonbos back you guys, do you see it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so cool it.
Speaker 6: Wow, wow, what treat like.
Speaker 19: I didn't know that.
Speaker 13: I couldn't even eat us too excited. The moonboat is gorgeous.
Speaker 13: We become umber files.
Speaker 2: On my left, so the light is coming back in,
Speaker 2: so it's getting brighter and brighter like daylight with warmer
Speaker 2: colors around us.
Speaker 13: Gosh, I can't believe that was like five minutes ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it feels like a different realm.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 6: You feel changed? Yes, yeah, I no.
Speaker 2: Longer care about achievement or anyone else else's opinion.
Speaker 3: She's gonna burp one out.
Speaker 13: You should have done this.
Speaker 2: The sun is still emerging, and that rainbow ring around
Speaker 2: it appears again, and if you stand in exactly the
Speaker 2: right spot, it's an excellent photo op, perhaps to convince
Speaker 2: people that you are saintly or a mystical demi God.
Speaker 2: Great profile.
Speaker 6: Pick Yere's so cool.
Speaker 2: So we gathered the snacks and children and with swollen eyes,
Speaker 2: walked to the car in kind of a daze. It's
Speaker 2: so odd. That twenty minutes before we were just staring
Speaker 2: at the sky in shock. Now on the road back
Speaker 2: to Buffalo on that eclipse playlist, and every song gives
Speaker 2: me the shivers, like a little crushy heart swell from
Speaker 2: what we just got to see. And there are still
Speaker 2: families gathered in front yards for some post show barbecuing.
Speaker 2: I see woman probably in her sixties, just alone on
Speaker 2: a lawn chair with a TV trade table in front
Speaker 2: of her, having lunch under the clear sky. We stopped
Speaker 2: for coffee, and I wonder if the cashier at Circle
Speaker 2: K managed to lock up for a minute and go
Speaker 2: out and see it. I'm just really glad that I did,
Speaker 2: and huge thanks to everyone who encouraged me to go.
Speaker 2: Thank you again, doctor Tiagan Wall and Christoph, Jeff Scott,
Speaker 2: Mary shar Vin, Carrie, Mike, Sadie and Socksy and our
Speaker 2: pals Rogue and Scala and Tam for the warm Buffalo welcome.
Speaker 2: Simone and my friend Sarah who ventured to Texas. I
Speaker 2: hope I get to see the next one with you
Speaker 2: and again to offset this travel and bring you a
Speaker 2: glimpse of the eclipse. If you couldn't make it a
Speaker 2: donation went to climate activism nonprofit Functionalmagic dot org, which
Speaker 2: is linked to the show notes alongside Meretassium on YouTube.
Speaker 2: Thank you to them. You heard doctor Tiagenwall in the
Speaker 2: WGA Writers Strike episode and we'll link her socials in
Speaker 2: the show notes too. In case you'd like to be
Speaker 2: friend a Hollywood screenwriter who works on great science scripts,
Speaker 2: we are at Ologies on Twitter and Instagram. We have
Speaker 2: Smologies episodes which are kid safe, classroom friendly. Cut down
Speaker 2: versions of our classic episodes as are available for free
Speaker 2: at aliwoard dot com slash Smologies linked in the show notes.
Speaker 2: Stay tuned for a cool Ologies announcement coming your way
Speaker 2: in the next few weeks. Aaron Talbert adminsiologies podcast Facebook
Speaker 2: group with this syst from Bonnie Dusch and Shannon Feltz,
Speaker 2: Aveline Malick and the Wordery make our professional transcripts. Noel
Speaker 2: Dilworth is our scheduling producer who literally raced us to
Speaker 2: airports and helped gather things I forgot. Susan Hale rolled
Speaker 2: with the changes as our managing director. Kelly R. Dwyerd
Speaker 2: as our website. Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio is our
Speaker 2: Ologies lead editor. Again, thanks for going with the last
Speaker 2: minute episodes and huge producorial and editing assistants provided by
Speaker 2: Jared Sleeper of mind Jam Media, which also produces the
Speaker 2: Nickelodeon podcast Avatar, The Last Airbender and the newly released
Speaker 2: season three. We just got nominated for a Webby, So
Speaker 2: congrats Jared Sleeper. After the bonkers travel and the eclipse,
Speaker 2: we slept like twelve hours and we edited a lot
Speaker 2: of this in a Hampton in lobby where they offered
Speaker 2: guests leftover eclipse snacks like sun chips and moonpies, which
Speaker 2: I found very clever. Now, if you stick around to
Speaker 2: the end, I tell you a secret in this week.
Speaker 2: It's that, Yeah, I did finally shower and I changed.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much, and I just got to DC hopefully
Speaker 2: to put this up tonight. Also side, don't remember how
Speaker 2: we stayed an extra day or two for Jared's jiu
Speaker 2: jitsu ceremony. I snuck in the back of the ceremony
Speaker 2: with some spectators and I watched your pod Moom get
Speaker 2: his black belt in jiu jitsu, which is like a
Speaker 2: giant feat It's taken him twenty years to achieve. You
Speaker 2: can see the chunicular traumatology episode about knee injuries to
Speaker 2: learn more on that, and I'm so happy for him.
Speaker 2: I'm so happy without having gone to that ceremony. Also,
Speaker 2: we'd have been in Texas, so we cried a lot
Speaker 2: this week, all for good reasons. So thanks for coming along.
Speaker 2: We'll be back in next speak with a full episode
Speaker 2: per usual. Meanwhile, you tell the son it's doing a
Speaker 2: good job. Do not look it in the eye. Okay, bye, bye.
Speaker 11: It's so beautiful.