This and That

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 Eclipse

The eclipse of the century is over.  We've got 7 years until the next eclipse in the United States.  Were you in the path of totality?  We were well outside the path of totality, with about 80% coverage here in Maryland.  I made a pinhole viewer and a pinhole projector to see the eclipse, and we were able to watch the eclipse through the viewers and on the reflection off the hood of the car, as well as through the shadows of the leaves on the trees.  It was a fun afternoon for a science geek!

I punched several holes into my pinhole viewer and look!  Many little eclipse shadows!

I love this!  The light coming through the leaves of the trees made mini-eclipses!

We also made a pinhole projector out of a tube of wrapping paper.  Here, you can see the eclipse at it's totality in Maryland in the shadow on the envelopes.  We really, really enjoyed playing with the shadows!  The light was really dim here during our totality.  We never got totally dark, the birds kept singing, but the light was very odd.

The OTHER Eclipse
No, people were not amused when I put this up in our workroom along with our pile of lost sunglasses over the weekend....

Another Overdose
The 23 year old who lives around the corner from us died of a drug overdose over the weekend.  Even one more is too many more.  I've lost count this year.  My oldest son's graduating class has been decimated.  6 years after graduation, 300 kids total, we've lost almost 30 of them to drug overdoses.  That's 10%.  That's just in our tiny little community.  I can't imagine what this looks like on a national level.  We are losing the next generation!  What can we do to keep our kids safe?  What are we missing?  What do we need to change to help these kids? 



On my Nightstand

Sherman Alexie is the well known author of several books including "The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian".  I'm reading his most recent release right now.  I am not certain what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the stark look at the life of a Native American growing up on the reservation with alcoholic parents.  It's a painful look deep into the heart of a man and a people who have been systematically stripped of their cultural heritage and their hope.   Anyone who has grown up with a parent who struggled with addiction can relate to his tale.  As he relates his own story of growing up and coming of age in this very difficult environment, you see the true strength of the man, and the depth of the love that holds him firmly in this world.

Reading this book right on the heels of Undefeated, the Jim Thorpe story has definitely made me think about the plight of our Indians - how they have been treated them in the past, and how we continue to treat them in this so called "enlightened" time.  I've had a thought provoking couple of weeks of reading.