Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Celebration of darkness AND light

 I am on the downhill side of the cold. 

Tomorrow, I will go with Tim to start the wiring on the house. We are starting with the basement. Tomorow will be installing the breaker box and connecting that. We will install a light in the basement and some outlets. 

Let there be light!

But we're going to be celebrating the dark, too. Did you know about the Solar Eclipse on April 8th? We are fortunate enough to be in the zone of totality. If we go an hour west, we will be able to maximize it. The darkness will last for four minutes. My daughter-in-law asked if they could come to our house for the weekend. ("YES! The answer is always, always YES!") 

That is something to look forward to. 

Late Edit for AnvilCloud: 



39 comments:

  1. The solar eclipse won't affect us in the UK. It's a rather extraordinary event, quite spooky, really, and one can imagine the superstitions that arose from eclipses.
    It's always good to have family visiting:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had a partial eclipse. I remember that Tim and I were sitting in the front yard with two paper plates watching it. I looked at the sidewalk and there were literally scores of tiny little eclipses being projected on the sidewalk between the leaves of the big maple trees. It was very cool. The mail man came along and stopped to see what we were doing. We gave him the paper plates so that he could watch as he walked.

      Delete
  2. I remember a total eclipse in the 1960s. The sky went dark, the street lights came on and birds quickly began roosting for what they thought was the night. The temperature also quickly dropped. It was rather spooky.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can remember more eclipses. One, I went to school to collect my kids and we went out on the sandunes in Michigan with paper plates to watch it. It was a memorable moment for me. Years later, when my son was going with his wife to see an eclipse, I remembered that day. He snapped, "I don't know why you thought those plates worked. They didn't." That surprised me. Because they totally did work, and it was such a moment for me, something he remembered as a disappointment.

      Delete
  3. I have only experienced one total eclipse, so far back that I cannot remember when it occurred, although I do know that I was still living with my parents at the time. It was perhaps a once in a lifetime experience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess I remember quite a few more than that. Perhaps they were not all total. The one that I remember most vividly is the one when my kids were little. I found out that the school's plans were to pull the shades and keep the kids safely away from the windows. I thought that was such a wasted opportunity. I went to the school and picked them up on the big day.

      Delete
    2. You know, Jaycee? The eclipse in Michigan was an annular eclipse. The eclipse here, maybe 2 or 3 years ago was a partial eclipse. I may never have seen a total eclipse either.

      Delete
  4. I do hope that you recover well soon. I read that there was to be an eclipse this year - how exciting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't even have a clue until Brittani brought it up.

      Delete
  5. I hope you enjoy your eclipse. As Jabblog said we won't experience it in the UK.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sure I will. When the grands are involved it is always a good time.

      Delete
  6. Good to hear that your cold is waning. Nice progress on the house. We are not allowed to do "wet area" wiring, ie bathroom and kitchen, ourselves, that has to be someone with up to date qualifications.

    Yes, go over and experience the eclipse if you can.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never miss an opportunity to see something as amazing as all that.

      Delete
  7. If you are in the zone of totality, we must be close; we're not all that far away from you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I edited the post for you, AC, although I'm sure you have found the map yourself.

      Delete
  8. Good luck with the wiring. You guys sound like you know what you are doing. I wouldn't know where to begin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not the brains behind it all. I am the 'hold this right here like that' person. I'm very good at what I do. Tim is very good at what he does.

      Delete
  9. You and Tim amaze me with your skills and abilities!
    Glad to hear your cold is making its way out of you.
    I did NOT like the eclipse we had a few years ago. It spooked out some primitive part of my soul. I think I would travel AWAY from one now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really? I love it. It is eerie. I always think of the ancients who surely must have seen this as terrifying. It does not terrify me.

      Delete
  10. I often don't complain about laws in my own state but we have one in particular that annoys me. It states than for any new construction, one must be licensed by the state to do plumbing or wiring. I wouldn't mind being inspected to make sure everything it to code but they actually check to make sure you are licensed by the state which is an annual process of certification classes and a hefty licensing fee which makes it not practical for a private person to become certified.

    The totality zone passed about three hours SE of me and I've been toying with perhaps going to see it. About a half dozen years ago or more, it was within a couple hours south of me and my eldest and I drove down to see it but got intercepted by clouds and rain. Despite that, I still remember how the hairs on my neck stood up when despite it raining, it got really dark in the middle of the day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unless it has changed, to be a licensed electrician here, you take an online test, pay $25 and that's that. Tim never wanted to pay the $25. He learned from my sister's husband. He read up on the rest. He's always done our electrical work.

      Delete
    2. Besides the fee, we are required to complete 6000 hours of training as an apprentice or 2000 hours of classroom training!

      Delete
    3. Not required here. It is an online written test. Tim saw it as a money grab.

      Delete
  11. How cool about the eclipse! And I admire you taking on wiring. That's one task I always leave to the professionals. (Actually, I leave almost everything to the professionals!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would have heard about the eclipse as the time drew nearer, but Brittani heard it first, and brought it to my attention. They are always looking for things to expose the girls to.

      Delete
  12. I've been waiting for this eclipse for years! I have two kids living in the path of totality, one already knows to have my room ready. (ssshhhh...🤫 let's don't discuss the possibility of clouds! 🤞🙏🏼 )

    ReplyDelete
  13. On another note...I like the little globe that maps each person who visits. I went to their site and got the link info, but don't know how to add that kind of gadget to blogger. Do you know how you did it?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Barb: copy the code from the widget. Go to the top right corner of your blog and tap on 'new post' and scroll down the list to layout. It will bring up your blog layout. Find an empty space that gives you the option of 'add widget'. Paste the code there. Hint: do it at the bottom of the blog if you want to avoid screwing up the layout of your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  15. "Pittsburgh will see a deep partial eclipse, with some amount of sky darkening. But there will be no corona, no totality, and no dramatic moments on eclipse day. " What a gyp! :^(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Eclipse will be big business, I'm sure. Book a bus trip! Get the rest of the gang together!

      Delete
  16. Thanks for the map. I won't see much dark. Red Deer is at the very top of the map a little to the left of center.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are way off the path. You and the micromanager need to hop on a plane!!!

      Delete
  17. You two have an amazing amount of energy! Nice to hear how your house is progressing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This part does not take so much energy as much as careful methodical work.

      Delete
  18. We were in the path of totality in 2017 and let me say, by all means, get yourself to wherever you need to be to witness this event. It is NOT overrated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dylan and brittani actually drove to Tennessee to view that. I don't remember the name of the town, but they were trying to avoid big crowds. They said that little town was PACKED.

      Delete
  19. We've seen two total eclipses now. Once was in Kona, Hawaii and the other was in Missouri. There's the one in Indiana too in April, of course. Unfortunately, our trip to Illinois is in May to see our granddaughter dance. Art is not happy about that. But I asked him what was more important... seeing your granddaughter dance or seeing another eclipse. He took a while to answer.

    ReplyDelete

I'm glad you're here!

Getting Things Done

 Today was a banner day in a lot of ways.  We have a roof that was partially replaced on a rental. The bad side required immediate attention...