Here we are, eclipse day. It's a work day for me and I have no idea what kind of chaos I'll be walking into.
Online, some people have been telling one another that there's no need at all for special sunglasses to look at the Sun before and after totality, occasionally citing their religious faith in justification (or claiming the sunglasses are some dire plot) -- this, in a world that includes poison ivy and deadly mushrooms alongside many beneficial plants.* I'm not here to argue theology or debunk lunatic conspiracy theories; a bright light will harm your eyes and the Sun is the brightest natural light we get on Earth. If you're in the path of totality, I am given to understand you can look at the eclipse once the Sun is fully covered, at which point the corona is too dim to be seen through eclipse glasses, but you'll need those glasses to find out when it's safe to peek.
Emotionally, logically, I'm still where I was during the pandemic. I'm not the boss of you. Don't want to wear a mask, don't want to get a vaccine, won't isolate? Fine -- don't come crying to me when you get sick, don't come crying to me when you infect those around you. I saw skeptical friends and professional acquaintances die. I couldn't save them. I can't stop people damaging their eyes by staring at the Sun, either. I still sure wish you wouldn't, but you're not a starfish trapped in a draining tidal pool. You've got to choose to save yourself.
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* Or, if you like your examples mixed: Pokeweed or inkweed grows wild in most of the country, and will make candles, good ink, or -- properly picked and prepared! -- delicious greens or kill you quickly and painfully. (The stems and attractive dark berries are the most poisonous part. I'm told the tender young leaves must be boiled and drained multiple times to be eaten with any chance of safety, and I've never been tempted. There's a knack to it and if you get it wrong, the best outcome is you end up in the hospital. Get kale or spinach instead, or turnip greens.)
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
4 comments:
I don't argue with irrational people, they are unreasonable
and insistent they can.
You can lead a horse to water, throw him in, and if its
an irrational horse it floats above the water.
Least that what the drowned horse believes.
Its why we have no unicorns.
Eck!
I've always favored pin-hole inflicted cards for shadow viewing of solar eclipses and join in not understanding those who think they just must stare at a bright light source.
Poke Weed: It grows wild in our yard. I try to keep it down to a reasonable number of plants to produce berries for the birds who were surely responsible for its being here in the first place. I haven't my mother's competence. I recall during WWII that, whenever we drove by a nice patch of wild greens, Mom would stop to pick a (paper) grocery bag or two - mostly of poke and dock - which made mighty fine eating when she cooked them.
Don't look up!
Last time we had an eclipse I looked through a CD. Worked well enough. But that was a long time ago, when we still had CDs.
I hope you got to see it. A total eclipse is beyond my ability to describe.
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