Blue Wall Weekly August 21, 2017

A total solar eclipse may have darkened Jocassee Valley when the Cherokee people lived here. One imagines a legendary story would have come from such a cosmic event… maybe a story about a giant frog eating the sun! On August 21, 2017, we plan to witness the eclipse from a vantage point along the edge of Lake Jocassee, toasting daytime darkness with appropriate bubbly libations at the proper time. Moon shadow could well be usurped by cloud shadow… this is the Jocassee Gorges, after all. We hope not. We want to see the shadow sweep across mountain and lake at 1500 miles an hour. We want to see Bailey’s Beads and the diamond ring. We want to see the corona with our own eyes, and decide whether it really is the best part. And what a lovely little bit of synchronicity this is: our long-anticipated total solar eclipse will achieve complete darkness at 2:38 PM, and will last for 2 minutes and 38 seconds. At least that’s the way I’m reading it. If I’m wrong by more than a few nanoseconds, don’t tell me. ~K