A quick video of the moment the eclipse happened at our house. You can hear some of the neighbors cheering.

Lots of people out walking and riding bikes. Beautiful day. Feels like a less hot July Fourth. We should have eclipses more often.

The head of Indiana’s DNR (who is also my neighbor) says all campgrounds and state park lodges are full. Guests from all fifty states and three other countries. So, plenty of people around–but the roads are quiet. People seem to have made the wise decision to get to their viewing site and stay put.

Remember the weird post in the woods near my house? Well there’s a new development. Now there’s a fairy Barbie doll set into the ground just a few feet away.

What’s going on here? No idea, but I delight in the strangeness. And it doesn’t hurt that I’m watching X-Files right now.

The treetop of Damocles

Came across a guy in the woods walking his pit bull.

“Out looking for mushrooms?”, he asks.

“A little, but I’m mostly looking for wildflowers. They’re so beautiful this time of year.”

“Hell yeah they are!”

I did not expect that response but a guy who will “hell yeah” wildflowers is my kind of guy.

So there’s an eclipse coming, if you haven’t heard. We’re in the path of totality. In fact, we’re at the end of the zone where the darkness will last a full four minutes. It’s caused a bit of a hubbub.

• IU cancelled classes and is holding an event that features William Shatner performing spoken word poetry and a Janelle Monae concert. By Friday afternoon, they were giving away tickets to faculty and staff, so I wonder how well-attended the event will be.
• Authorities are warning about a massive influx of people, causing traffic jams and fuel shortages. Bloomington is expecting 30,000 people. Spring Mill State Park is expecting 11,000. It’s reportedly been a bit hectic at local grocery stores this week. Apparently there’s been some panic buying. I suspect this is due to the memory of shortages in the early days of the pandemic.
• This morning alone I saw four small aircraft flying into the (very small) local airport. I’ve noticed a lot of helicopters in the area today also.
• Local campgrounds are all booked. Hotels have been booked for a year or more. Local astronaut Charlie Walker will be addressing a crowd at the 4-H Fairgrounds.

We don’t plan to drive anywhere until Wednesday. I do plan to do some walking though, to see how bad the traffic gets on some of the main roads. It might get a little crazy around here for the next couple of days—and I’m not looking forward to that. But I am excited about the eclipse itself!

I built a serving tray out of a gate I found alongside the road a few weeks ago. Plenty of flaws, but it was fun.

We’re regularly getting woodpeckers at our feeders now. And a few days ago I saw an eastern bluebird. Not bad for a place about ten blocks from the nearest large patch of woods. Word may be spreading among the bird community about our place.

I received issue 16 of Mortise and Tenon Magazine today—my first one. It is, as I expected, a beautiful thing. And their mission statement! How could you not love it?

Mortise & Tenon Magazine exists to cultivate reverence for the dignity of humanity and the natural world through the celebration of handcraft.