Ever witnessed a total solar eclipse?

I’ve witnessed a ‘partial’, which was impressive enough, but not so much for seeing the sun with a blind over it, rather for the bizarre quality of light on familiar terrain, best described (but far more unsettling) as looking through a photographic neutral density filter.

The upcoming total eclipse on August 21, which begins its path through the ‘lower forty-eight’ in Oregon, and exits from South Carolina, is going to pass through the very north-east tip of our state of Georgia.

If we just walked out into our back yard, we’ve discovered we could witness a 99.08% eclipse.  Good enough for me.  However, we spent last Sunday afternoon scouting locations in neighboring South Carolina.

We visited the man-made Lake Russell, situated between the two states, a product of the Richard B. Russell hydroelectric dam, named for the person with the longest running term in the U. S. Senate, segregationist Richard B. Russell.

A severe and massive structure (the dam), to give some scale, that figure in orange in the picture is my beau peering through the window of the now abandoned ‘Visitors Center’.  (Photos clickable to enlarge.)

Why view the eclipse at a lake?  Stephen’s research found that should there be a cloud cover on the 21st, it would be thinner over bodies of water.  Who knew.

While at the lake, a park ranger at the relocated ‘Visitors Center’ (exhibits not at all badly done) directed us to a remote, thus seldom used concrete pier to check out.

Also a trifle severe.  While there we ‘selfied’, Stephen quite animated for the camera, me cleaving to the notion (debunked) that sucking in the cheeks makes one pretty.

I think I hope this excursion takes place.  I’m almost certain that it’s good to leave the house once in a while.