In my 67 years I've seen a few solar eclipses the one thing from my youth that my father taught us kids if you want to see the country take back roads , all roads lead home they just might not be your home
Hi, I’m here in the suburbs of Buffalo, directly in the path. There is a very busy commercial corridor near me which will no doubt become gridlocked as it does routinely at every holiday. The media is playing this up and people are responding to the constant hype. The hotels here are all booked and charging outrageous rates. Too many people, limited resources, not a good combination. I am stocked up and have plenty of projects to keep me occupied and have no intention of leaving the house from now till the middle of next week after everyone is long gone!
North America has had other eclipses during my life time, and there were never such crazy warnings and states of emergency declared. This suggests that people have regressed, and have become less able to take care of their own needs as the years have gone by.
Just as some people have erroneously connected the weather with earthquakes, we now have some people in government conflating the eclipse with sunspots. (The latter can affect such things as radio signals if they are huge).
The eclipse might bring out some people who have forgotten how to drive or ambulate or navigate, and this has been spun into considerable fear porn.
Total eclipse occurs very near to us, and as with most other overhyped things, I'm inclined to ignore it altogether, (unless I decide to observe how the livestock and pets respond to the change in lighting).
We survived the eclipsepocolipse in October. Our EMS services gave out similar warnings. I work for a rural ambulance service that covers over 1500 square miles east of Crater lake, which was listed as the best national park for viewing. We were expecting at least 70k extra people (our county has a total of 60k people across over 6,000 sq miles) for the event. The biggest issue was that it ended up being cloudy right before the event and everyone rushed south to try for a sunnier spot which caused a few extra traffic accidents. Otherwise the shortages were very minor because everyone was ready for a lot worse. It never hurts to have extra food and fuel on hand.
Love the generosity of spirit in how Vermonters are preparing for the deluge of tourists! I'm in Kingston, Ontario, also total eclipse territory. A little more infrastructure available here, but we're being told to expect 5 times our cities' population in visitors this Monday, with one of the main routes into the city closed because of a problem with our lift bridge. I'll definitely be on my bike coming to work that day :) Stay safe and have fun everyone!
An interesting reflexion piece, but you are quite wrong about one thing: you say that "most people live in a world where ready access to supplies and 5G cell service is taken for granted"
- fact is, most people do not live in such a world.....
My area will be in 90% totality. I bought 25 pairs of glasses to share with people and I'm looking forward to seeing it from my own backyard. It's a rare opportunity and exciting, although I would never go out of my way to experience it.
Most people do not prepare for travel. I do.
As an always respectful, prepared, leave-no-trace type of traveler, it's always interesting to hear what I, as a tourist, am called by the locals. I'll add "flatlander lookiLu's and eejits" to the list that includes, among others, "upislander" and my favorite "citidiot" (I do not come from the city). It's a shame tourists act so badly they get their own slurs, and it's a double shame that I am assumed to be an obnoxious, mannerless, clueless person because I am not a native to a town. Oh, well. There's worse things than being called names by people who don't know you. I try to interact with people as little as possible when I know an area hates outsiders. When I do interact I'm nice, even if the other person isn't.
On my own turf, I try to be helpful, kind, and understanding to every one, while keeping my street smarts, my brown belt, and other layers of protection on my body (again, I'm prepared).
My area abounds with tourists due to tons of beaches, not unreasonable access to Manhattan and the the famous Hamptons, and cutting edge, quality healthcare (both western and eastern/ traditional). Here, our word for tourists is "tourists". Our word for transplants is "transplants". I suppose we would call natives "natives" if it were an issue, but no one cares.
Rude people are everywhere. I strive every day not to be one of them
I laughed my butt off with this article! We are not in the Eclipse Disaster Area but live in a rural community with no cell service, one small store/gas station (which is out of gas at the moment. Not unusual) and frequently a traffic jam of cattle or horses. Our 'tourists' are folks going to Church Camps or hunters. And we chuckle at City Folks who seem to be baffled with our Backward lifestyle. But we love having them visit. We just don't want and extra 80,000 at one time!
South Central Iowa here so not total. Will not "watching" may check out the difference in the light. But definitely not looking at the sky. Thankful to not be in a place people are flocking to. I do plan to fill some containers with extra water just incase there are contrived problems.
Take care and enjoy the show if that's your plan.
Hope all the traveling people make it back home saftly.
Excellent! Here in Austin our streets are teeming with tourists and the lines at grocery stores are super long, there are limits on how much water one can buy. Great article.
Ashley, it's the same stuff here in NW Arkansas, a few miles from the Buffalo River National Park in the Ozark Mountains. I live in the country just outside the line of totality on a dirt road, but me and my neighbors are prepping for the influx of city folk [a dirty word around here :)] just like you are, minus the snow.
In my 67 years I've seen a few solar eclipses the one thing from my youth that my father taught us kids if you want to see the country take back roads , all roads lead home they just might not be your home
Hi, I’m here in the suburbs of Buffalo, directly in the path. There is a very busy commercial corridor near me which will no doubt become gridlocked as it does routinely at every holiday. The media is playing this up and people are responding to the constant hype. The hotels here are all booked and charging outrageous rates. Too many people, limited resources, not a good combination. I am stocked up and have plenty of projects to keep me occupied and have no intention of leaving the house from now till the middle of next week after everyone is long gone!
North America has had other eclipses during my life time, and there were never such crazy warnings and states of emergency declared. This suggests that people have regressed, and have become less able to take care of their own needs as the years have gone by.
Just as some people have erroneously connected the weather with earthquakes, we now have some people in government conflating the eclipse with sunspots. (The latter can affect such things as radio signals if they are huge).
The eclipse might bring out some people who have forgotten how to drive or ambulate or navigate, and this has been spun into considerable fear porn.
Total eclipse occurs very near to us, and as with most other overhyped things, I'm inclined to ignore it altogether, (unless I decide to observe how the livestock and pets respond to the change in lighting).
We survived the eclipsepocolipse in October. Our EMS services gave out similar warnings. I work for a rural ambulance service that covers over 1500 square miles east of Crater lake, which was listed as the best national park for viewing. We were expecting at least 70k extra people (our county has a total of 60k people across over 6,000 sq miles) for the event. The biggest issue was that it ended up being cloudy right before the event and everyone rushed south to try for a sunnier spot which caused a few extra traffic accidents. Otherwise the shortages were very minor because everyone was ready for a lot worse. It never hurts to have extra food and fuel on hand.
Love the generosity of spirit in how Vermonters are preparing for the deluge of tourists! I'm in Kingston, Ontario, also total eclipse territory. A little more infrastructure available here, but we're being told to expect 5 times our cities' population in visitors this Monday, with one of the main routes into the city closed because of a problem with our lift bridge. I'll definitely be on my bike coming to work that day :) Stay safe and have fun everyone!
Part of Arkansas is in the totality. Schools closed. My work closed. Traffic is expected to be awful.
We were told to prepare as if there was a three day ice storm before today because the shelves will be picked clean by tourists.
How's it go for everyone? any crazies?
An interesting reflexion piece, but you are quite wrong about one thing: you say that "most people live in a world where ready access to supplies and 5G cell service is taken for granted"
- fact is, most people do not live in such a world.....
thank you
My area will be in 90% totality. I bought 25 pairs of glasses to share with people and I'm looking forward to seeing it from my own backyard. It's a rare opportunity and exciting, although I would never go out of my way to experience it.
Most people do not prepare for travel. I do.
As an always respectful, prepared, leave-no-trace type of traveler, it's always interesting to hear what I, as a tourist, am called by the locals. I'll add "flatlander lookiLu's and eejits" to the list that includes, among others, "upislander" and my favorite "citidiot" (I do not come from the city). It's a shame tourists act so badly they get their own slurs, and it's a double shame that I am assumed to be an obnoxious, mannerless, clueless person because I am not a native to a town. Oh, well. There's worse things than being called names by people who don't know you. I try to interact with people as little as possible when I know an area hates outsiders. When I do interact I'm nice, even if the other person isn't.
On my own turf, I try to be helpful, kind, and understanding to every one, while keeping my street smarts, my brown belt, and other layers of protection on my body (again, I'm prepared).
My area abounds with tourists due to tons of beaches, not unreasonable access to Manhattan and the the famous Hamptons, and cutting edge, quality healthcare (both western and eastern/ traditional). Here, our word for tourists is "tourists". Our word for transplants is "transplants". I suppose we would call natives "natives" if it were an issue, but no one cares.
Rude people are everywhere. I strive every day not to be one of them
Good luck, have fun! Thanks for the info. No visitors here in Montana till summer. That's when we have our troubles.
I laughed my butt off with this article! We are not in the Eclipse Disaster Area but live in a rural community with no cell service, one small store/gas station (which is out of gas at the moment. Not unusual) and frequently a traffic jam of cattle or horses. Our 'tourists' are folks going to Church Camps or hunters. And we chuckle at City Folks who seem to be baffled with our Backward lifestyle. But we love having them visit. We just don't want and extra 80,000 at one time!
South Central Iowa here so not total. Will not "watching" may check out the difference in the light. But definitely not looking at the sky. Thankful to not be in a place people are flocking to. I do plan to fill some containers with extra water just incase there are contrived problems.
Take care and enjoy the show if that's your plan.
Hope all the traveling people make it back home saftly.
Excellent! Here in Austin our streets are teeming with tourists and the lines at grocery stores are super long, there are limits on how much water one can buy. Great article.
Ashley, it's the same stuff here in NW Arkansas, a few miles from the Buffalo River National Park in the Ozark Mountains. I live in the country just outside the line of totality on a dirt road, but me and my neighbors are prepping for the influx of city folk [a dirty word around here :)] just like you are, minus the snow.
Preparidness advice much appreciated. Best Regards, ladyinthebarn