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See porcosh Energy dot E for full ties and CIEs. Oh hi, it's the lady that's lasted aboard the plane on our way to see an eclipse. Here we go. So if you listened to last week's Heleology episode highly recommended, it's on the Sun and solar eclipses, you may know that I missed the twenty seventeen eclipse because I stayed home to work on and launched the podcast Ologies. I had some friends who went. People cried. It's been nearly
seven years of regret. Then in March I had this big surgery and I wasn't sure if the results would yield me a big bubber diagnosis. When it came back clear, I told myself, perhaps ward we should go on a few adventures, but before this adventure. Huge thank you to everyone on Patreon who supports the making of the show. At patreon dot com slash Ologies, you two can join for one dollar a month and perhaps hear your name and your questions on the show. Also thank you to
everyone supporting Ologies by wearing merch fromologiesmerch dot com. You can also always support the show for zero dollars just by leaving a review such as this nice one from Nishabeth, who wrote, I would love to hear an offshoot of oologies Ali's adventures with some of the peeps that you have interviewed that have invited you to the field Bear's Pelicans, Bugs Adventure Ali. Nishbeth, you have no idea how timely that is, because you're about to come with me to
a lot of different places right now. Thanks for writing that. Thank you to everyone who's ever written a review. I've read it, so if you listen to Heliology from last week, you'll have a lot of the context and lead up to why this field trip Eclipse episode was so important. For me to make and of course that episode is linked to the show notes as well as my field trip mystery surgery episode. If you listen to that, they'll
understand why. As soon as I got a green light I decided to maybe have a little bit more fun after a rough couple of years, so I booked a ticket to see the eclipse. It did not go according to plan? Did I make it? Was it fun? Did I see the corona, the panumber, the Bailey's beads, the inside of a cop car?
What happened?
Come along with me and several million others as we chase the Moon, chasing the Sun for a glimpse at our own insignificance. This one gets a little wild, lot of ups and downs, also airport sandwiches. In this field trip, I head to the solar eclipse like an umbra file. An umber file is someone who likes eclipses. How about
a little background. So in twenty twenty four, a band of totality stretching across Central and North America on a diagonal like a beauty passiant sash millions of people going to see the moon covering up the Sun, which would also boost the US economy by six billion dollars. Where
should you spend your money if you're going to see it? Well, the best option to see it was at lower latitudes where the weather has a lower chance of some meteorological sabotage because no clouds were not here to look at you. And this thing would be going from Maine to mast Lawn, So you have a lot of options. And my friend Derek Veritasium, he had a place with his family in Cerville, Texas, So I asked them if they thought that was a good spot, and they said they actually couldn't make it,
and I could have their airbnb. And then I found out one of my best friends I've known since we were twelve, Sarah, was also headed to Caerville, Texas. Curvelt whatever hot damn things are working out. I got a free airbnb, my friends aren't going to use my the friend's going to be there, but rental cars were scarce. We as friends and family and oligites, and then somehow went on Toro popped up my friend Simone and I we're both headed to DC after this eclipse, so she
got a ticket to join Dar night in Texas. However, Charit's Jujitsu Jim was having a belt promotion ceremony and they'd like him to be at and they hinted that he might want to be pressent for it, so we moved the trip back a few days to flying to Austin the day before the eclipse. I'm nervous. We have really early flights. I hear the drive from Austin to southwest Cerville, usually a two hour trip, may take up
to twelve hours. My friend Catherine sends a video from her mom in Austin, empty shelves at the grocery store. It's like a quarantine flashback. The Texas Department of Transportation is putting porta potties along like a ninety mile route, and the Mayor of Cerville declares the event and emergency ahead of time in case they need immediate assistant from FEMA during the influx of people. By the way, we have a disasterrology episode with doctor Sam Montano. Highly recommend it.
But either way, I've waited seven years for this. Texas is the place to see it. They're not going to have clouds. I've been on helicopters, a tiny bush plane, a military center refuge for TV shoots. I've driven through a tornado and an ice storm to get to work. I can handle eating protein bars for a few days and using a port potty for fun. And then the weather reports came. Texas is expecting thunderstorms right at the time of totality. So the day before we left this
past Saturday, I talked to Jared. Okay, here's the deal. So right now we've got clouds in Texas, big big clouds. Vermont in Maine are supposed to be clear. Right if we change our flights to go instead of going to Austin to go.
To Kerrville, which is declared a state of emergency and might have clouds, if we change the flights to Portland, Maine the day before we leave, I'm just saying, if is it bonkers to go.
As long as we're going to spend money and time to just be like whoop.
Hiccup?
You tell me, I mean, are there places to stay in there? Is that gonna that's gonna be in the path we're saying. I don't even know where fucking Portland mean is.
I can't. I just can't believe that it's flipped. Teagan has family in Buffalo, so she was gonna go up there. She's up there to see it in upstate New York. I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Let's go, let's go sleep in a car somewhere, you know.
Yeah, Buffalo's right in the middle of it.
I know.
Do we have places to stay if we go there?
I mean, I could ask Teagan because camp in her yard.
How would we get there?
I don't know. I texted Simone that it might change.
I know, you really want to see this thing.
Simone says, oh shit, I'm down either way.
That's good.
I just figure like an adventure is an adventure. The sunk cost fallacy events a lot of people from going far.
I agree, And I'm not looking forward to the idea of like driving like fucking crazy.
You know, to sea Club.
You know, yeah, I love it.
Teagan says, if we pivot, She says, if you can get to Buffalo or Rochester, we have couches, floors, et cetera.
I think we should maybe do this, Okay, you know, well then let's let's fucking try that.
Let's figure this out. It's fun.
I think it's fun too. Ah, So we started immobilize. There are flights out of Burbank at seven fifteen eight ten, nine twenty five, and ten twenty five. They all get in at eight ten, so they all change planes in Las Vegas. It says one left on each of these, one seat left on each of them, but whatever like, and then from Vegas, it looks like we'd all be on the same plane. I say, fuck it, let's go amazing. Okay, one ticket down, babe, I got us flights. There were
four left. I had my confirmation number already up, so I switched mine first. Oh no, oh no, huh oh no, no, no no no. Jared meanwhile was in the bathroom. There's been a complication, and I will tell you when you're out of the bathroom.
Okay, what's the complication?
So sorry, okay, So it looked like there was one flight available for each of those times. So I booked mine, and now there's no flights available. And that was just that one flight was showing up for all the departure times. Do you know what I'm saying. So it looked like there were four flights available. Anothers can call, Yeah, let's call. I booked myself.
But well, I'm glad you're gonna see it.
No, that's not what's happening.
No, it's important.
That's not what's happening. I couldn't.
Thank you for going with airlines have a pleasure of speaking with names.
Jared Sleeper, TLDR, No, Dice couldn't help us at all.
Wow, I wonder if everybody's flying out for it, because we're completely.
I think they are. I think they are shit.
We FaceTime, Simon. I don't want to feel like I'm ditching you because I booked my ticket first, being like, okay, I have my con does it seem like I'm like, okay, well I'm set you guys, So good luck.
You know, Kelly, there is not a single cell in my body that feels that way to you, And thank you for checking, thanks for fact checking your feelings. The two sources here, Derrett and I, Yeah, do not feel that way at all. It's quite the opposite of like it would be a bummer that you would miss out like you got a flight.
It's fucking awesome.
And also if I could choose for one.
Of us to go, like obviously right right, So this is a peer reviewed study, double peer reviewed. Mm hmmm, I think it's a great idea for you to go. So Jarrett checks for flights into Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, but coming up empty, goose Egg decides just not to go. There's no flights. He's going to catch the next eclipse, maybe in twenty twenty six, if we decide to. But then later that night he goes and he finds a flight into Toronto, a few hours over the border. It's
in Canada, there's one seat. It lands at eleven pm the night before the eclipse, so he'd land and then he'd drive two hours in the middle of the night across the Canadian border into New York to reach us in Buffalo, where there are clear skies. He goes for he gets a ticket, he finds a rental car. We're both just going to do this. K four fifty three. The day before me leave, we went back and forth. Decided I'm going to fly into Buffalo. I got those
tickets for Buffalo. I got tickets singular. Simone's out, she's going to stay in LA a few more days, and Jarrett is flying into Toronto late at night, and then we're going to watch it between Rochester and Buffalo. And then the next day I head to DC. All right, Okay, so I'm going straight to Washington, d C. After the eclipse as a stembassador for the National STEM Festival. It's put on by the US Department of Education and Explore,
which is cool. It's highlighting student solutions to global challenges in areas like the environment and food and energy and space. Very cool. That's right after the eclipse. So the morning of my departure this past Sunday, I just grabbed my stuff in chaos. I'm packing caphazardly. I'm wondering if I'm going to regret this in case they invite us to the White House and I have the wrong clothes underwears literally falling out of my backpack as I arrive at
Burbank Airport. I'm just gonna get in there and do some repacking.
Okay, are you? Are you sure?
Yes?
Yes, yes, I love you.
I'll see you a little bit.
I'll see you in Buffalo.
I'll get the address from Tiegan, because I don't know where we're going. If you've ever flown Southwest, where there are no seat assignments and only boarding order, you may understand that my place in line at sea fifty five sucks.
Shit.
I'm the last aboard the plane and I stand before this like achingly full flight, but I'm happy. I'm happy to be there. Then I see a middle seat in row two, and the flight attendant whispers to me, those ladies know each other, and sure enough, when I asked to scoot in the middle, one the aisle passenger size as if I caught her in a lie and says, I'll just take the middle And I have a blessed aisle seat at the front of the plane, and these two ladies who are friends, have to sit next to
each other. So the flight attendant kind of sneaks me a look as if to say like, see, don't let anyone bambooso leo, And I say, thanks, lady. Now on the flight, the attendant asks for a show of hands of who is Buffalo bound for the eclipse, and maybe a dozen of us on this full flight raise our hands. She's like, how many people are just coming home? And I craned my neck back to see eighty percent of the hands raised.
I must you a beautiful clear size day tomorrow.
Dplaning are mostly tired families returning from what must have been spring break, because there are flip flops, beach braids, there's tanned nine year olds, there's very little patients. One older couple is wrangling luggage through a crosswalk and they drop a bag, so I go to help them. The woman stares me right in the face and says, my daughter lives a life of chaos and this is the result. But they must also be eclipse chasers, and I relate heavily to her daughter, who a moment later pulls a
rental car around and parks crookedly on the crosswalk. I get her. So in the crisp Buffalo night, I see Teacan smiling through the windshield of a rented minivan. Her brother Jeff, pops out of the shotgun seat and loads my luggage in the back. While I've been flying, clouds have rolled into Buffalo. Oh my god, how are you? Oh my god, Doctor Wall We're coming to Baby's so glad you're here.
A good chans are gonna get up tomorrow.
We're gonna be driving, that's all right, based somewhere like.
We're we're gonna find a fucking hole.
Yes, you're not having me, all right, You're going to target first, okay, because all.
Of the air mattresses that everyone has.
Yes, no, we honestly can sleep anywhere.
No, No, we're gonna choose.
No, no, no, no, we're in the car.
No no, no, no choosing.
Okay, I get to get it.
It's fine, Okay, I don't care.
You can pay for it, Okay, deal. It's way cheaper than a hotel. And I don't even know if you could have found one.
I don't think you could have.
I know, I mean, is not that big.
And there's literally like something like two minu billion people coming into town for this.
Yeah, that's exciting.
We hit target air mattress acquired. We walk into teaking aunts Shar's house to a chorus of dogs heralding the arrival of a sweaty, gross stranger.
Who is me?
Now? This house it has that blissful feeling of like common home to families. Like there's kids asleep upstairs, baby monitors droning at the end of the dining room table. All the adults are still awake. There are bowls of jelly beans and em and M's and her family is laughing, playing at dice game.
Okay, double nine, now it goes to doubles.
Everyone is instantly welcoming and warm, including that barking dog Sadie, who quickly learns that I am a reliable source of pets and hugs, and that I can sent easily to have my face licked by dogs. I've just met four.
Five nine.
That was the fourth Rolls game over. Maybe because after pivoting from Texas thunderstorms at the last minute for those clear skies of Buffalo, the Buffalo clouds are gathering first just a few and then.
Whether you want to get in front of it or try and get behind it, I don't know.
Now that it's getting closer. I'm looking at forecasts and different weather modeling. Let's see, there's Toronto.
Let's go, so right now at two pm, Buffalo is scheduled to have a eighty three percent guy covering in the clouds.
At two pm at two pm.
But if we wanted to go all the way out to Watertown is like fifty five.
Chance. See, I'm kind of watching that weather. That weather. This is cloud cover as of right now.
Like a military operation, we gather around to weigh our odds and plot the course.
Here's Eerie, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Toronto, and so we're sitting like right in there, so.
We might be able to look out if we go.
Down to Erie.
There's really not much we can do now, but just get some rest on the air mattress which is now inflating in the living room.
We'll shake it again in the morning.
So we'll see. It's just like roll the dice. Do you go in front of that band of clouds or you try and traveler can't hide the vand clouds?
Yeah, oh, a roll of the dice game. Indeed, we'll see.
We're in it for the adventure.
We'll see.
This is what number files deal with. Okay, So Tiket's brother Jeff just said, no matter what, tomorrow, we will see something obscuring the sun. Nice will it be the moon or the clouds covering the moon covering the sun. We're at eighty three percent chance of the sky being covered at three PM during the eclipse in Buffalo.
So we're gonna wake up.
We're going to see what the weather report says, and then we're gonna see if we're going to head two like Cleveland or Watertown, which might be really long traffic, but that's what we're here for umbrophilia, not for the week of Constitution. We'll see what we see. So it's eleven PM. Jared has just landed in Canada, and he has customs and a two hour drive ahead. I meanwhile, not off in my airplane clothes, which is disgusting on
this fresh new air mattress. And at two thirty in the morning, Shar's front door clicks open and Sadie erupts in a barking that we are sure we'll wake the four babies and toddlers upstairs, but we WinCE. We bribe Sadi with biscuits and pets and pets and snuggles, and then we slip under a quilt on the air mattress to sleep like the dead. Now the next morning, still on Pacific time, US Californians sleep in until nine or ten, and then jump out of bed, still in yesterday's clothes,
to look at the weather. It's the day of the eclipse. Okay, that's It's ten seventeen am Buffalo local time. There is not a not cloud in the sky, it's all I cannot see a patch of guys, so we're going to see what happens. But right now it is one clouded over over. Some of the best donuts I've ever had in my life from Paula's in Buffalo hit them up. We decide we're going to drive, and we got to go now. So we trip over our own legs putting
on shoes. We grab the eclipse glasses and recording equipment, and race to the rental cars. I don't even bother with a bra. Seven years I've waited for this. It's eleven thirty six. We've got four hours, three and a half hours.
Until the eclipse. Clouds. We got a lot of clouds.
It's all clouds, but over the lake, which is I believe Lake Erie, because we're close to Erie, Pennsylvania.
I need to look at a map, Pennsylvania. Don't email me.
I think that we're going to try to keep heading that way and we'll hope that the clouds don't blow our way chasing eclipses. So on the drive, we past miles and miles of still bare branched trees and hawks perched on telephone poles. I see smatterings of these yellow daffodils poking through the dead winter grasses. At one point I look over and see a flash of this classic car in the woods that's rusting into pieces. All of
this scenery under a still cloudy sky. As we head west, braced for a bummer let's be honest now from California. My friends are checking in, and my good buddy Mackenzie sends it a CLIPS playlist with songs like Eclipse by Pink Floyd, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Ain't no sunshine,
It's a banger. We're still under the clouds, driving and Tigan has come down with the stomach bug that her and her husband's children have, But despite her nausea and fatigue, she is meticulously watching the weather and navigating us toward the best odds for a clear sky between bouts of barf bags in the back of their minivan. So we proceed southwest along a ninety crossing from New York into Pennsylvania, still under the cover of clouds and mounting anxiety about disappointment.
What did you think it was going to be like? Shady shady?
Do you think it becomes a nighttime?
Apparently, pretty much.
Like the stars come out, the birds get confused because they think it's.
Night and they think it's morning.
And so I'm telling me that's almost like a sunset three sixty, but I don't know about that.
And then.
You always see a break in the clouds, like the tidiest slice of hope.
Now that we're gonna see it.
I don't say it if we're gonna see it, I mean I think we're gonna see it.
That we gotta be able to get over there before it happens.
Yeah, Yeah, that's blue sky sky got that's a big Patches guy.
The blue sky is very promising.
We're crossing into Ohio, which is apparently the hard of it all.
Some of us crossed the international borders to be here.
It's true, some of us did so. After the flights and the changes and the midnight drives and wearing no bra and a dirty shirt, it's starting to look good. Could this happen?
All?
Right?
So we're about thirty miles away from where we're going. I think we're going to stop and grab a little lunch, and then we're thirty minutes out. It's two hours until the eclipse. Right, I'm feeling much better seeing some blue sky. I think all of us are feeling less despondent.
I think that's good.
I keep replaying in my mind like if I had a time machine, would I do this over again?
If it were cloudy?
If it were cloudy, I feel like it's a no. I would have stayed home, So this is good.
Stay tuned.
We're going from like a tiny patch of blue sky to smaller patches of clouds.
So this is good.
It's serious.
I don't know. I'm gonta look it up.
Serious.
I think they're serious, sir.
Camp trails looking beautiful Camp trails.
They're seating the clouds for us, babe, all right.
They're seeding the clouds because they're trying to prevent us from absorbing the eclipse energies.
Well, you know, they.
Don't want us to charge our crystals. So clearly there's.
Spraying some stuff up there, cover up to heliotar energies because it's going to break us free from all five g The helio letter energies are gonna cure my vaccine.
They could cure your vaccine. Yeah.
This aspect of the discussion is amusing to me because it is employing a comedic technique called verbal irony, whereby
his comments become funny because they don't represent his genuine thoughts. Now, this is distinct from situational irony, such as, for example, when we decided to fly into Texas to avoid clouds, but Texas got shit weather, so we flew into buffalo for cloudless guys, which then became cloudy but then became clear due to relocation, which at this moment, I don't know if I find any that funny, but I am happy also because we could all use a potty break.
We stop at a Steak and Shake, which is populated with the people in booths wearing various commemorative black eclipse shirts, which gives things a very thrash metal aesthetic. Look at all the people in the parking lot next door, a Walmart parking lot is filling up with cars and RVs and people with camping chairs and coolers and eclipse glasses at the ready, and I see an older man though
in the Stake and Shake parking lot. It's about ninety minutes to totality, but he sits alone next to his sedan in a folding chair, and I ask if he's waiting for the eclipse and says he drove in from Pittsburgh just to see it. He says he's seventy six and knows that this is his only chance. We give him an extra pair of eclipse glasses in case needs them, and I tell him I hope that the cloud's part
for him. Then we get in the car. We sold her on another ten miles to Walnut Beach Park, Ohio, and we pull up to a spot along a residential street and grab our coats and are now cold. Lunch perfectly timed. We run into the rest of our crew.
Oh you guys look familiar.
What the heck?
Oh my god, I'm so exciting. It's looking very very good. Folks. Stay put for the eclipse, but first a quick pitstop to donate to a charity of this week, and it'll go to Functional Magic, which is a nonprofit design studio making optimistic pop artworks, merch and media inspired by solutions to climate change, with all proceeds benefiting various climate charities. The art they produce is gorgeous, The causes are well vetted and they are linked in the show notes Functionalmagic
dot Org. And one sponsor of the show, even though they don't realize it, is veritassium, Derek Mueller, Thank you so much for giving us an airbnb in Texas that we did not use. But if you're not familiar, veritassium is impeccably produced and hosted channel of science and engineering videos, so you can find veritassium on YouTube and thank you to Derek and all of the Tassiums for your generous accommodations in Texas that we did not use. And thank
you to other sponsors of the show. Okay, so we're parked. We drove three states to a small waterfront town in Ohio and the skies overhead are mostly blue and I've pulled out the real audio equipment. I'm so excited. I really have been prepared to be disappointed me. I've been like, you know, it's.
Fine, I don't really do hope.
So it's true you don't do hope well, I think you don't do disappointment well. So you do hope in accordance with how much you can handle disappointments.
What's funny aout disappointment is you'd think, like most things, you get better with practice.
I think it's.
Worse because every time you're disappointed, it's.
Just takes a little more out of you.
I feel that.
Do you want to bring your hat?
Yeah?
It's less than one hour to totality, and the light looks dimmer already, so we check through our paper eclipse glasses to see that the first stage has started. The moon has taken its first nibble of light and we're already on to the second stage, where the moon is covering the sun more and more, and we hustle toward this big gathered crowd on the sand and an adjacent lawn. All right, first stage has started. We're in a place
called Ashtabulah. Ashtabulah, sorry, Ohio. We're near the waterfront, so the moon is starting to take a bite out of the sun and we're walking down to the beach. I thought we had a little more time.
Can I steal one of those glasses. I just want to see where we're at with it. Ah, Oh my god, it has started.
Oh that's amazing. Okay, Jared, did you look?
Oh?
I know it started.
Here?
Can we stop for one second to recombobulate my So I gather my items and nerves, and I wonder if I should interview strangers. And I don't know why I even hesitate, That's what I do for a job. And there's a group of like six folks sitting on patio furniture in their yard. I'm guessing because of their kind of jovial nature, I'm going to assume they're retired or they may have just started the morning with mimosas with lots of them.
You guys have a good spot. Yeah, is this your house? We traveled from California. You guys went to your patio.
You don't find a pla slice it down on the beach.
Nice.
I have some new friends.
Enjoy we post up. The clouds are just wisps and a few airplane contrails grid the sky. Also, I'm seeing vape clouds coming from the lawn. People getting spooky. Look, there's a bunch of people at the beach.
Yeah, yeah, hear there.
As the stage two moon eases its way onto the sun and the light around this is turning cooler, gray and blue. I run off to talk to strangers. Hey, I have a question. I have a science podcast. I'm just wondering how far you guys traveled, Marls eight hours. I came from California, Yeah, a little bit. I hitchhiked, so it took me six months. Okay, Maryland.
I hope you guys enjoy it. Excited.
Oh hi, I was just asking people how far you traveled to be here?
Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh, Okay, that's not that far, right, A couple of hours, that's all.
Three shout out of Pittsburgh from Virginia.
From Virginia.
How long is that? Thanks?
Sixcess six hours?
Pretty good.
We had first thing to go towards the Pennsylvania side.
Then we came over here.
And have you seen an eclipse before?
No?
This is yeah, me too. Everyone I know who's seen one cries. Okay, get your tissues ready. Apparently well enjoy, Thank you.
Virginia, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Central Pennsylvania's about three and a half to four hours.
We're from Delaware, Delaware, and that's my husband over there.
So that's quite a telescope.
Yeah, it's pretty cool. He's getting good pictures.
Yeah.
Have you seen a solar clicks? Yeah?
Yeah, we were in Colombia in twenty seventeen.
Did you cry?
No?
But what was really cool?
I thought?
These guys laugh at me, But like we're all it's just a weird moment. You're standing in all and then we don't know what to do because you're kind of in all. And then somebody starts clapping, and next thing you know, everybody's clapping.
Who clapped at the sky? But we did excited. That's good to know. Now I know the protocol. I've never seen one before. I don't know that that's a protocol.
It's really cool, Like.
We would not have known how cool it was about us just having been in an area where it was happening. And now it's like, I'll travel. I'll travel in twenty forty or whatever. The next one is like, I'll go chase the You know.
That there's a word for that. It's called umbre files. An umbra means shadow, so umbra files. If you are a clips chapers, a shapers, sachase umber files, eclips chasers, but one.
A lot of other understood.
Yes, well, enjoy. I'll be clapping along with you.
How far we came in from Washington, d C. Six hours? Maybe about three hundred and eighty miles. Did you see the twenty seventeen uh partial?
Oh this is your first total?
I think so? Yeah, mine too. I'm hoping to have an epiphany that changes my whole life. We'll see what happens.
Well, I'm hoping to feel my sense of scale in the universe, especially in light of the tantrums that I survived this morning. That's my three and five year old over there, who are not feeling the magnificence of the moment. They just want Eminem's and fruit snacks. So we're all in it for our own gain, aren't we? Whatever we need?
My husband made us strive here. I would have watched this on the internet, but we spent seven hours in the car with the three and five year old, so this better be magnificent.
I'm hoping for only the best.
Thank you.
We came from Deuver, Delaware.
Oh okay, that's a waste.
Did you guys see the twenty seventeen.
Well in Delaware? It was a partially clips but it was cool still, you know, but it's.
Not something you see every day. But we did bring our.
Son because obviously I don't think we're going to be around in twenty forty four.
When yeah, the next one is the next one, you'll be here?
Yeah, who knows?
I probably will, Given that we stopped at Shaken Steak on the way, we were probably not going to be here for the next one.
No, yeah, yeah.
I walked up to a guy with this long lens camera on a tripod who was also setting up a go pro. I think he was prepared. You look like you've got a good rig for this.
Yeah, it's a it's all Sony equipment. D you have just over threeundred miles up from Virginia to come into the path of totality.
Did you check the weather?
And check the weather?
That's what we did. We were every hour seemed like oh, I like barely slept last night.
And plenty of YouTube videos were forecasters all saying different things, so I wasn't sure until really last night.
Yeah.
We flew into Buffalo from La Buffalo is clouded over. So then we drove here and our friends in the other car were just minute by minute Doppler being like, where is it going to be here? But it looks like it's going to be clear.
Enough to see.
Yeah, it's totality.
Have you seen totality before?
My first?
Me too?
Oh, I'm excited.
Me too. I know I'm trying to contain myself.
I know, me too, me too.
We were trying to contain our potential disappointment when we saw the clouds, who were like, Okay, might not happen, might not happen some When we saw clear skies, we were just elated.
So I almost made the trip to Texas.
We had tickets to go to Texas really, and then we changed them two days ago because of the storms.
Oh.
Same, Well, I'd have tickets, spous when I'm drive down there. Yeah, just make a road trip out of it. And then the last minute I saw the forecast, said no, I think I'll took a gambling come in this direction.
Good gamble, Yeah, good gamble. We made the right choice.
Well enjoy. It'll be my first hospitality too, so cool. Nice to do you.
Yeah.
Remember the woman whose kids were just in it for the em and MS, who was fine with watching it on the internet. Well, I walked past her again and it turns out that she'd been gently coerced by more than just her husband.
Excuse me, Yeah, are you Ali?
I am Hi?
Nice to meet. I love your podcast. Oh no, are you serious?
Hi?
Like I think that Ali Ward and like google a picture like no, I think all the thanks. I actually listened to the heliology. I threatened not to come. Are you serious?
Like?
Well, they made it.
Sound pretty cool, so I guess I will come.
Because I was having a chance. I was like, I'm not riding in the car with these too.
Have it?
You know?
We were supposed to be in Texas.
Yeah, and then we wound up in this park. Yes, my husband I told him.
I was like, I'm going to be so mad. But then I listened to a podcast, so I went, that's amazing.
And then here we are, finally nice. Here we're supposed to be in Texas. It's like, that can't be right. I'm so glad, your man. I'll be up on that hill crying.
Well.
Enjoy, I will meet. This is what my life looks like.
Covered in children.
Enjoy, Hi Joy.
Thanks for saying that's cool.
That's really cute.
After seven years of regret, a really rough few years, two interviews with heliologists, and a long episode about it, two countries, four states, it looks like we're going to see this thing. Teagan is the only one who's seen a solar eclipse, and she gives me the lowdown of what to expect and why she was willing to stifle her stomach bug and drive several hours today with her weird friends who crash in her aunt's house, which is us and her brother and parents and husband and two tiny children.
Ah, that's looking so good, y'all.
This is nuts.
We just made it.
Hey, Tegan, do you want to give us a primer on what to expect when the eclipse happens.
I can give a little bit based on the last one.
Yeah, how did it?
What did it seem like?
Uh?
So, it gets chilly and all of the animals start to like go home, like it's the end of the day. The birds, I'll go home to russet. You start to hear like crickets and stuff. And then when you take your glasses off, you see like a sunset or a sunrise in every direction. It's like three hundred and sixty degrees sunset and sunrise. And then when you realize that you can look directly at it, it looks like there's just a giant hole in the sky with the corona coming out behind it.
It's really cool.
What are you most excited about for the eclipse?
The moon? It's the moon's big day.
I took my place on top of my jacket on the lawn. Have you stared directly at the sun yet? On accident? Chair?
Of course, yeah, me too.
It wasn't on accident, it was also on accent.
I've done a little class.
Are the birds starting to sing or is that just regular birds? I think that's just regular birds. It gets darker and a chill comes over us. I'm lying on the grass with one microphone on my chest and the other one pointed toward the crowd behind me.
I will say, I'm noticing shadows are looking a lot sharper. If you look around, everything looks like it's got an Instagram filter on it.
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
Yeah, you're right.
It's definitely dim. It's kind of like a grayish hall to everything. Yeah, like the saturation went down, but the contrast went up.
Yeah.
Yeah, so strange.
And when you see the Baileys beads, that's when you know totalities like moments away.
Oh wow, it's really crescy.
It's happening much faster than I thought I would old line. It's weird because it's kind of like dusk, but instead of having warmth to it, it's kind of a cold light, you know, so like dusk has so much golden light.
Decides to experience this with you.
I love that you're here and that I'm here too. Did I just hear a rooster?
Was that a rooster or a child?
The moon kept creeping over the Sun through the eclipse glasses, and the only light was this diminishing amber crescent of the Sun, just getting smaller and smaller and smaller.
Oh my gosh, look at how skiddy. It's getting It's like a little toenail up there.
Through the glasses. It just looks like a Halloween crescent moon.
Feel an emotion at all?
I don't know what, but it's cool. We are somehow my anxiety has found a way to even be anxious about this, Like what am I going to feel like when it happens? But I think that's just excitement that I'm filing into the wrong folder.
You know.
It's cool that there's just like nothing left to do but just lay down on the lawn and watch. I wonder what it's like in Texas and Buffalo right now. It's funny how eclipse chasing is really a lot about weather watching.
I feel like it is suddenly not like.
Yeah, it did get colder.
Oh, we really rely on that freaky sun.
Huheesh, dude, it is looking trippy out here.
It's definitely getting a weird eclipse.
Oh, it's so cool.
It feels like a horror film.
It's like it's definitely cold.
Yeah, it's the weirdest start. This is a weird jark.
It kind of feels like I'm still wearing my sunglasses.
Wow, just a.
Little, it's just a little upside.
Don't smile.
I know.
At this point we were just a few minutes away from totality and the clouds had pretty much drifted away from the Sun. We were so lucky. And with solar binoculars you could see the shape of the Moon's texture and outline, and as it eclipses the Sun, that geography of the moon causes small leaks of light around the rim, and those are called Bailey's beads, or if there's just one of them, a diamond ring. And the atmosphere around all of us was dimming to this deeper dusky level.
Look at how dark it's good. That is so weird, it's really surreal. Give me kind of goose swamps like a little creepy crawley on your neck.
You know.
So, just a minute or so away from totality, and a few pinholes and a piece of paper resulted in a little handful of crescents.
Oh, look at that.
It looks like a cheese greater.
Wow. Isn't it kind of amazing how much light there is considering how much of the sun is.
Seeah, like the little slivers like still blind?
Yeah, Ali stood up and look around a little bit.
Oh, my god.
Yeah, that's weird.
Yeah, you can see them.
Oh my gosh, it's like wavy. Is that like? So in the Heliology episode last week, we talked about shadow bands, these racing, waving, alternating light and shadow shimmers that become apparent on the ground or on light colored surfaces, and those things still mystify heliologists. They're not quite sure where they come from. And after talking about them in the last week's episode, shadow bands seem like this mythical creature I've only read about. It was like catching a glimpse
of a unicorn through the trees. And then a circular rainbow appeared above us in the sky.
Look at the rainbow.
Look at this rainbows?
Oh weird.
Yeah, yeah, weird.
Now that's the moon the sun.
There's a moon bloat.
Oh my god, Oh look this is I told you guys. Wow, I definitely like, how close are we jet.
A star?
Give me a second?
And then that's a star.
Oh my god, Oh my god, oh my god, oh.
Hew, wow, wow, so nice.
Oh my god. Look at the look at the like, oh my god, wow, look at that.
You can still see it's like cloud.
Oh whoa, my god, Oh my god, that's.
The level of surreality is difficult to comprehend unless you've been under this god.
You can almost see like, ah, do you see like the one diamond ring? Oh wow, the sense in every direction is really weird.
Oh that's so beautiful. Look at the Look at how did it?
How did we not get any wilds?
Right now?
There was one and it just got out of the way.
Oh my god, it's so surreal.
It's so surreal.
Look at all the people.
I've never seen something so otherworldly, so surreal, And part of the awe is how transient it is. It's not something that you can take in for as long as you like, or go back and revisit. You can't be anything but in a moment that is huge and communal and rare and fleeting and visually stunning. It's a void in the sky rimmed in these sparkling rays, and hundreds of people around you are gasping and crying and cackling
and making a memory that will last until death. And it was dark still in totality, and we're staring up at this glowing golden ring of light in otherwise darkness.
Yeah, wow, do you see that?
Look at that?
Look at this tree?
Like, I mean, it's like my time. It's really chilly, isn't it.
It's so cool, it's so cold.
It's really.
This starts for a while.
In a way that it's like I have such a lump in my throat about it.
Oh, I've cried a couple of times.
No, I mean, but it's like my like chest feels heavy.
Yeah, like it's so big. God, that's weird.
I'm so glad we came out from that. It's so cool.
It's so cool.
That's one of the closest things I've ever seen in my life.
Look at that corona, look at that one contrail.
So fun, I would confusion.
We're getting.
I can't believe this.
Once on a morning walk, my dog hopped through some grass like a bunny, and it was so cute. It made me cry. And this sensation was similar. It's like when you watch videos of someone finding out that they got into their dream college, or when you see a surprise reunion of loved ones. You watch that and you cry in empathy at how happy they must be and
how life can just work out sometimes. And part of that weird crying and awe was just appreciation that so many people could see something so beautiful, lasting only a few minutes, and also some happiness and relief that we had made this happen for myself and Jared Simone. Six. So as the moon plods on, this glimmer re emerges. It's now going into stage three where it's receding, and it's now a partial eclipse, and the light is still dim and the air is still chilly, but we're on
the other side. We're cruising downhill from that summit, even with just a sliver of the sun showing already daylight is back.
Wow. Look, oh god, that's wild.
Oh my god, I gotta look at it.
Look at it.
I don't even know where.
I burned my eyes. I couldn't been and it just gets so much burner.
Wow.
There's some people being like, Okay, that's enough, that's weak. Yeah, so I'm trying to be the.
In an instant. Some folks are already hopping in their car to avoid like a ten minute traffic out of the park. But we linger for a while, still taking in these crisp shadows, and I finally eat my soggy lunch, not realizing I'd been hungry.
No, it's under hyped.
You really can't type that enough.
Primal stuff that is insane.
Last time I left. It's so crazy.
The rainbows the moonbos back you guys, do you see it?
Yeah, it's so cool it.
Wow, wow, what treat like.
I didn't know that.
I couldn't even eat us too excited. The moonboat is gorgeous. We become umber files.
On my left, so the light is coming back in, so it's getting brighter and brighter like daylight with warmer colors around us.
Gosh, I can't believe that was like five minutes ago.
Yeah, it feels like a different realm.
You know what I mean?
You feel changed? Yes, yeah, I no.
Longer care about achievement or anyone else else's opinion.
She's gonna burp one out.
You should have done this.
The sun is still emerging, and that rainbow ring around it appears again, and if you stand in exactly the right spot, it's an excellent photo op, perhaps to convince people that you are saintly or a mystical demi God. Great profile.
Pick Yere's so cool.
So we gathered the snacks and children and with swollen eyes, walked to the car in kind of a daze. It's so odd. That twenty minutes before we were just staring at the sky in shock. Now on the road back to Buffalo on that eclipse playlist, and every song gives me the shivers, like a little crushy heart swell from what we just got to see. And there are still families gathered in front yards for some post show barbecuing.
I see woman probably in her sixties, just alone on a lawn chair with a TV trade table in front of her, having lunch under the clear sky. We stopped for coffee, and I wonder if the cashier at Circle K managed to lock up for a minute and go out and see it. I'm just really glad that I did, and huge thanks to everyone who encouraged me to go.
Thank you again, doctor Tiagan Wall and Christoph, Jeff Scott, Mary shar Vin, Carrie, Mike, Sadie and Socksy and our pals Rogue and Scala and Tam for the warm Buffalo welcome. Simone and my friend Sarah who ventured to Texas. I hope I get to see the next one with you and again to offset this travel and bring you a
glimpse of the eclipse. If you couldn't make it a donation went to climate activism nonprofit Functionalmagic dot org, which is linked to the show notes alongside Meretassium on YouTube. Thank you to them. You heard doctor Tiagenwall in the WGA Writers Strike episode and we'll link her socials in the show notes too. In case you'd like to be friend a Hollywood screenwriter who works on great science scripts, we are at Ologies on Twitter and Instagram. We have
Smologies episodes which are kid safe, classroom friendly. Cut down versions of our classic episodes as are available for free at aliwoard dot com slash Smologies linked in the show notes. Stay tuned for a cool Ologies announcement coming your way in the next few weeks. Aaron Talbert adminsiologies podcast Facebook group with this syst from Bonnie Dusch and Shannon Feltz,
Aveline Malick and the Wordery make our professional transcripts. Noel Dilworth is our scheduling producer who literally raced us to airports and helped gather things I forgot. Susan Hale rolled with the changes as our managing director. Kelly R. Dwyerd as our website. Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio is our
Ologies lead editor. Again, thanks for going with the last minute episodes and huge producorial and editing assistants provided by Jared Sleeper of mind Jam Media, which also produces the Nickelodeon podcast Avatar, The Last Airbender and the newly released season three. We just got nominated for a Webby, So
congrats Jared Sleeper. After the bonkers travel and the eclipse, we slept like twelve hours and we edited a lot of this in a Hampton in lobby where they offered guests leftover eclipse snacks like sun chips and moonpies, which I found very clever. Now, if you stick around to the end, I tell you a secret in this week. It's that, Yeah, I did finally shower and I changed. Thanks so much, and I just got to DC hopefully
to put this up tonight. Also side, don't remember how we stayed an extra day or two for Jared's jiu jitsu ceremony. I snuck in the back of the ceremony with some spectators and I watched your pod Moom get his black belt in jiu jitsu, which is like a giant feat It's taken him twenty years to achieve. You can see the chunicular traumatology episode about knee injuries to learn more on that, and I'm so happy for him.
I'm so happy without having gone to that ceremony. Also, we'd have been in Texas, so we cried a lot this week, all for good reasons. So thanks for coming along. We'll be back in next speak with a full episode per usual. Meanwhile, you tell the son it's doing a good job. Do not look it in the eye. Okay, bye, bye.
It's so beautiful.