Ark Encounter, the Great Eclipse, Falls and More parts 1 and 2

[carey masci]

http://whatsoncareysmindtoday.blogspot.com/2017/08/hey-gang-what-wh...

http://whatsoncareysmindtoday.blogspot.com/2017/08/ark-encounter-gr... 

[carey masci]

Yellow Springs, ah yes Yellow Springs I write about that town in my book. Are you aware of the book I wrote? I think you would enjoy it. Maybe we can meet up someday, would be my pleasure.

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Carey Masci; 

Well, I feel duty bound to warn you that just a cup of coffee may not be enough.  More like a pot of coffee.  Not only have I been told that I have many and varied stories that are relatively complete and detailed, but that I should also consider writing a book.  I don't know.  However, when I look at the length of some of the messages I have posted, I can also see why many people would say something like that. 

I can say that I have had a remarkable life and I have done some things that people read about in college texts.  Life really can be funny at times. 

Now that I no longer have a useful purpose in life, things are even more varied and time consuming.  Life in "retirement" can be a challenge.  You may have heard some older people saying something like; "I don't know how I ever found time to work back when I had a job."  There can be truth and validity in such a statement.  Many times I have counseled younger people; "Work as long as you can.  You will not really appreciate the stability, familiarity, and predictability of a job, until you no longer have one."  

But, returning to your comment, it is possible that I might make it to around the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers on occasion.  I did go to school in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  And you know already where I will probably be in the first week of April in 2024.  With the relative ease now of Internet communication while traveling all over the United States, if I am within a few hundred miles of you, maybe we could arrange for that meeting and discussion over a few cups of coffee.  Besides, there is a young lady with her family now that I have not seen in a few years, and she is only about 500 miles to the west of there.  Yes, yet another excuse to travel back East again.  

And there is also the possibility that you might come out to near the Pacific Northwest.  It really is a very nice part of the country, and that statement is from someone who has lived in many parts of this  country, courtesy of the United States Navy, although I must also admit that almost all of those were no more than 25 miles from salt water. 

Enjoy; 

Ralph 

Latté Land, Washington 

[carey masci]

You seem like the person I would love to sit a spell with over coffee and talk to. I can tell you have all kinds of stories to tell.

I agree with your statement concerning people with disabilities, I have friends who are and there is things they can't do but they amaze me with things I know I can't do

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Carey; 

Gary is a young man I shared an apartment with in Washington, D. C. back in the middle through the late 1960s.  Both of us left Washington, D. C. in 1970.  Gary is about the closest thing I have to a kid brother. 

We lost contact with each other for 37 years, and then through an absolute fluke chance encounter, we reconnected at a seminar on emergency radio communications in Seattle in 2007. 

The one major difference now is that he also drives a wheelchair normally.  Previously we had raced motorcycles together in the Mid-Atlantic States area.  He had a problem with a ton of salmon and ice in old cardboard boxes up in Alaska while flying them in his Beech B-18 from the packing house to a distribution center.  The end result was the loss of the B-18 and the substitution of the wheelchair as a main mode of transportation for him now, but, just as there are adaptive control systems for cars and trucks for driving, there are similar control systems for small aircraft for flying.  If you really want to do it, there are all kinds of things that you can still do, even when other people will tell you that some things in your life may be over.  It might mean that you will need some assistance with a few things, but you can still do just about everything in life that you enjoy.  

Enjoy,  Ralph, Latté Land, Washington 

[carey masci]

Ralph enjoyed you report. My review of it is coming. Who is Gary?

Stay tuned for my part 3

Thanks again for your reply and entry

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Carey Masci; 

OK.  I did see the title, and I did look through the "blog" postings, but I have not seen anything in there about your viewing and commentary on "The Great American Solar Eclipse," which, as far as I am concerned, WAS NOT that "Great."  This one was OK, yes, and it was a total solar eclipse, so it was definitely worth the effort.  However, there was too much "hype" associated with this one. 

Sorry, but for this century, "The Great American Solar Eclipse" will be on 2045 August 12.  The one this year lasted only from 2 min 04 sec to 2 min 40 sec.  The one in 2045 will range from about 4 & 1/2 min in California to 6 min 6 sec east of Florida just south of Freeport in the Bahamas, Mon.  That will be "The Great American Solar Eclipse" for this century.  I just wish that there was a reasonable probability that I will get to see that one. 

     And, while there are references to your being in Tennessee to see this year's eclipse, there does not seem to be any report of what you saw. 

So, with that point made, it is probably time to offer a report for me also.  

The venerable Winnebago Elandan WCP31RT did make it to about 3.5 miles NE of Madras, Oregon, the center of the solar eclipse chaser madness in Central Oregon.  While we did have a great view of the sky looking up at the eclipse, some of the other things I wanted to photograph did not happen.  There were many fires to the west of us in the Cascade Mountains, and the smoke, haze, and low clouds did make it impossible to see the approach and departure of the shaft of the shadow before and after the eclipse.  That was one of my main goals.  The same conditions did not allow the "shadow bands" and some other phenomena to happen.  I also was late getting the thermometer set up, but we did see a 6.5 degree F. drop in temperature over the time that was measured.  With the things being done with Gary, I did not get to make an radio propagation efforts for that testing. 

Glad that I went, and Gary did get to see a total solar eclipse finally.  Admittedly, we were on up on a ridge just east of US-97, along with about 500 other people, but that dirt surface was not truly compatible with the front wheels of the wheelchair that he carries in the car, but he did make it, we did have the awning out for him to be under during the warmer parts of the day, and he did get to see the eclipse.  I feel like I actually did accomplish something in providing some of the facilities he needed in order to get to see a solar eclipse.  Motor homes do come in handy at times. 

For the eclipse itself, yes, we did get to see Bailey's beads, the "Diamond Ring, the corona with a brightening in a band above the moon for about 20 seconds beginning at about 15 seconds after the start of totality.  I had not seen something like that before. 

For people who were not able to see this one last week, the next one we will get will be on 2024 April 08 from Texas to Maine.  Save those solar viewing glasses.  It will be worth the drive to get there.  Take your motor home or other RV.  It will come in handy for living space among all the other people trying to be there.  Some people we had breakfast with Tuesday morning said that the RV campground west of Madras had 1000 people Saturday morning.  They had 15,000 people over Sunday night - Monday morning.

Enjoy;  Ralph, Latté Land, Washington