Eclipsed

Yeah, I'm just staying home and watching today's eclipse from the D. The more I thought about it the more I thought, I do have work to do (well, that was my boss's, and conscience's, thought anyway) and what real difference can half a percent off totality (Detroit is predicted to have 99.4 sun coverage)  make? So I'll slip on a welding helmet and step outside the old barn and catch the thing as it grows and ebbs.

But the corona! That sliver of sunlight at totality! Ah, I've seen it before, in pictures. And again, it simply can't be that much better. I doubt I'll be on my deathbed wishing I'd have seen the whole eclipse. I'll be on my deathbed wishing I'd spent more time at work.

Ha, ha, no. But in this world sometimes work must be a priority. I would have probably been more inclined to drive further for totality if, say, Detroit were only at 80 or 90 percent. As it is, I'll take what I get.

Like, Totally

The big solar eclipse is coming up next Monday, April 8. I had been planning for months to take the day off work and head down into northwest Ohio to see it. A total eclipse? A once in a lifetime event? I wasn't going to miss it.

Then in yesterday's paper I read that Detroit, where I live, will be at about 99.4% totality. Almost ninety nine and a half percent of the Sun will be blocked right at home. Do I want to drive a minimum of an hour each way, and fight the expected crowds, for around three minutes of complete coverage? How much of a difference can point-six of a percent make?

So now I don't know. I reserve the right to make the trek. But is it worth it?