Allison has to live vicariously through the eclipse… and that’s okay

So, peoples, what did you think of it?  What did you think of the big event that happened on Monday?  Of course, I’m talking about… the President of the United States visiting Madison to talk up a plan to reduce or eliminate student debt.

Okay, maybe you weren’t thinking of that (though it’s important in its own sense).  Odds are your mind was on [*turning on serious newscaster voice*] “The Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024.”  For sure, it was on the minds of a lot of people in the [*turning on serious newscaster voice again*] “path of totality” that ran from Southern Mexico, into Texas, and all the way up through Indiana, Ohio, and Atlantic Canada.

Even here in Wisconsin, where we didn’t see a total eclipse but did have good weather, a lot of people had Eclipse Fever.  Well, at least it was for those who could, safely, make out the crescent of a partial eclipse.  I wasn’t among them, yet I, as a work-at-home drone, had a perfect chance to possibly make one out:

Before 2PM or so on Monday, I noticed that daylight started to dim outside my window; think the darkened tint you’d see through an everyday pair of sunglasses.  “It’s happening!” I thought to myself.  So, paying no mind to the living I was supposed to be earning, I stepped outside and tried to make out the eclipse the old fashioned way:  Turning my back to the sun; taking a sheet of paper with a hole cut out in the middle; then holding that sheet parallel to a cardboard and perpendicular to the sun, something I learned in school during the 1979 eclipse.

The result?  I saw no discernible crescent whatsoever.  And certainly not the pretty significant crescents people witnessed, safely, at Library Mall at that time.  Yeah, bummer.  (It must’ve been how crudely the hole was cut.)

I wasn’t the only one who missed out on Eclipse Fever, however.  A friend purchased one of those funny (their term) yet seriously protective glasses to observe the eclipse through.  However, they didn’t know exactly what time of day the moon would be in front of the sun around here.  (Uh, uh, don’t just snidely say, “The daytime?!”)  So, they had to live vicariously through all the extraordinary photographs of the eclipse…

…and so did I.  For sure, I would’ve loved to have had the most sophisticated telescope (covered with special lenses, of course) and capturing the eclipse to my memory.  But seeing what, say, NASA’s YouTube channel or even ABC captured is a good consolation.  It’s kind of like touring the Grand Canyon, watching the first Moon landing, or even seeing the greatest drag queen rock the stage:  I may never (or never did) get to experience it with my own eyes, but photographic evidence will let me know that it’s awe-inspiring just the same.

Now, if eclipses could also magically resolve student debt…

---

The moon has now moved away from the sun, the sky is back to normal, and life goes on.  Until the next eclipse, that is.  It’s interesting that while eclipses aren’t a literally everyday thing, they do occur at least once every year.  Indeed, the next eclipse will occur this October, when the moon will cast a shadow over… the Pacific Ocean and the southern end of South America.

But let’s say you live here in North America, you bought those funny-yet-protective glasses, and you want to use them again but can’t for several years.  (Indeed, Wisconsin’s next shot at any eclipse won’t be until the 2040s.)  Well, you can save them as a memento.  You can put them into a time capsule.  You can bequeath them after you pass (sorry, that’s even darker than an actual eclipse).  Or you can just throw them in the recycle bin.

Or, better yet, you can give them to charity.  No, seriously!

After Monday’s eclipse, a Facebook friend of Male Mode Me shared information on donating those special glasses to those who may go without eye protection during the next celestial event.  There are two ways to do this:

• An organization called Astronomers Without Borders accepts and vets the condition of used solar glasses so that they can be distributed to those in disadvantaged locales.  They also work with Warby Parker, so if you have one of their stores near you, you can drop off your solar glasses there.  Information about this program, including a list of other physical collection locations, is available at this direct link.
• You can also send those glasses in the mail to another organization, Eclipse Glasses USA.  Their “Eclipse Give Back” program works with other outlets to accept and donate paperboard glasses with the ISO logo of approval and are in good condition (i.e. no tears, punctures, or perforations).  And if you send your pair to them before August 1, they will distribute them to South American locales in time for their shot at celestial history this October.  Further information is at this direct link.