I’m bein’ followed by a moon shadow, moon shadow, moon shadow….

Total Solar Eclipse countdown is on. Now, as my three-year-old would say “noooo need to peeenick”.  Although, the more I read about it, the more I am beginning to reconsider our little family viewing adventure. I might have to “forget to mention” the eclipse to the littlest littles.  I don’t think they are fit as Rule Followers to keep the mandatory protective eye wear on for this. This is a time for extreme RF-ing. Those rays are some serious business. Thank goodness my mom and babysitter (Thanks HTB!) have brought this to my attention. So glad someone is looking out for us.

I’ve always been interested in astronomy. Something I, at (most) times, take for granted as I go about my daily routine and at the end think I’ve had a rough day– yet all the while there is this massive sky filled with hard working (and MEGA fast moving) orbiting planets and such. That never stop. EVER. Vast and mind blowing if you get into the weeds of it all.

Mixing my fascination of the galaxies with the allure of psychology– you put those two together, what’d’a get….horoscopes? I dunno… we’ll go with astrology; a fun and guilty, pasttime pleasure of mine. I feel that strong correlation between the big, bad(ass) universe and human behavior, even though I have less and less time to ponder the subject/s. Until this week — it occurred to me that the solar eclipse (we haven’t had one in a generation, basically) is around the corner (and coming in hot to our neighborhood)– ON TOP OF WHICH Mercury is in retrograde. Doh! Now, I don’t know enough about either of these to play Galileo (even though I did in my 8th grade science video), but for a hot minute I was preparing for straight up Armageddon.  Alas, …deep breath, all…..

After some entertaining research, there is no real, reported, explosive disaster on the horizon linking these two. Each event is treated as its own entity. Mercury in retrograde is just a time to think more carefully about your actions and communications (and travel time!). It’s a time to mind your mind, as one reporter put it. I like that reMINDer.

With the solar eclipse, according to NASA (–that’s right. NASA. Nobody F’s with NASA.), there is no evidence of physical or legit mental effects among humans. Historically physiological effects have been reported (human sacrifice way back in the day??)– but mostly affecting animals.

In brief, *this* eclipse is a FULL SOLAR eclipse. There are other types—lunar, partial, etc…but this is the big boy. This is when the moon passes by the sun, and the moon’s shadow is casted on us peeps down below. In relation to the US of A, the shadow is said to last only a handful of minutes, and will start in the Pacific northwest, passing along Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina. Phew! Imagining this makes me feel like the grand U.S. is so small in size for one shadow to hover across it—and then some! (Check this site  for viewing times in your area and a live stream of the eclipse.)

So, while some might take this time to milk the idea of lunacy and say they have an excuse to be crazy—that may be the case. Truly, the planets and moon are powerful and do have their own effects on us— just maybe not enough to drive you to do anything too far from your norm. Animals will get confused by the darkness of the eclipse. Howlers may howl and birds will cease chirping. Some cows may head for the barn. Keep an eye on your sweet little domestic pets. They are always the first to pick up anything unusual…I’m always so impressed by that. (I can always predict a thunder storm when I start constantly tripping over our girl Bodie who won’t leave my side before we even see a drop of rain! Genius, basically.)

So, again…in the words of our Neely, “no neeeeeed to peeenick”—enjoy the occasion—just stay protected. Make sure viewing glasses are certified. There seems to be some price gouging going on now, but I’d say it’s worth it.

Image credit: http://digitalblasphemy.com