Eclipsegeddon is truly descending. We’re three weeks away from the April 8 event, during which the moon will totally block the sun, at least along a narrow path that happens to run right through Niagara.
The Region, various municipalities, Niagara Health, Brock University, and the Niagara Police have all weighed in with advice and warnings, all of which pretty much boil down to (1) Don’t be an idiot and stare at the sun without proper eye protection, and (b) Hunker down, because the mother of all traffic jams is swarming our way, and, like it or not, schools will be closed, so plan to be home with your kids on a work day.
Pelham will likely be spared the worst of the mayhem, not being a big tourist destination anyway, but NOTL and Niagara Falls are bracing for the biggest one-day crowds they’ve seen in a couple of decades, maybe ever. Word is that all hotel rooms in NOTL are booked, and I suspect that it’s much the same for the Falls.
The only previous total eclipse I experienced came just a moment or two ago, when I was 10. Over the weekend I dug through childhood photos looking for proof of this 1970 event and found it, as I knew I would, because my paternal grandmother was a photo documentarian par excellence. Every birthday, holiday, anniversary, first and last school day—she was there with her Instamatic, snapping away, those plastic flashcubes momentarily blinding everyone.
The good news is that she did indeed take photos on March 7 1970. The not-so-good news is that all of her eclipse photos are... of our television. Specifically of the live images of the eclipse being broadcast as it happened. Here you go:
The path of totality ran up the eastern seaboard of the US and over the Maritimes, and for decades I assumed that this was the eclipse immortalized by Carly Simon in You’re So Vain:
Well I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse naturally won
Then you flew your lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
More not-so-good news!
It wasn’t the 1970 eclipse that young Carly referenced in the song, after all, but a later one, on July 10 1972, which wasn’t visible in the US but was in Canada, and which sure enough included Nova Scotia. Four months later the song was released. Dang! My tenuous imaginary Carly Simon connection gone, just like that.
(After decades of fan speculation, by the way, Simon confirmed in 2015 that at least part of the song refers to her one-time partner, actor Warren Beatty, whose vanity was apparently indeed pleased to hear that the song was about him.)
As for April 8, my spouse and I had initially decided not to look at the sun except just at the moment of totality, when it was completely obscured by the moon. And then we broke out laughing because, come on, we’re definitely going to look at the sun before that, so I went shopping online and found what appears to be two pair of good quality, certified-safe viewing glasses as recommended by various authorities including the Town of Pelham, the design of which doesn’t seem to have changed much since 1970, though they do fit better on my face. Now we just have to hope for clear skies on the day. Sadly, given this winter's weather, that’s not a bet I’d take.
Retired? Have some time on your hands? Like to write?
I’m highly pleased to report that we are once again looking to add to our stable of talent, in the form of a general news reporter covering Pelham, Thorold, and on rare occasion Niagara-on-the-Lake, since Village Media runs sites in all three towns. Find the specifics here.
Now, clearly applications are open to anyone, retired or otherwise. That said, in my experience and as I may have mentioned once or ten times before, the best reporters come from the university of life, not out of journalism programs. They are well-read, well-spoken, curious, and above all articulate communicators. All of these skills tend to develop as we mature. There are, of course, the minor inconveniences of occasional evening and weekend assignments, but these are relatively rare in the overall picture. So if a decent salary and generous benefits sound appealing, get that resume dusted off and sent in.
Or maybe you need an office
As previously mentioned, we are closing our Fonthill office at the end of this month—not PelhamToday, just the office—and we’ve had some good success in sending off various items of now-surplus office equipment to new homes, including to a teacher (I still can’t get over this) who used his own money to buy our portable air conditioner to use in his classroom.
At this point everything is pretty much gone, save some geriatric computer equipment that will either go to Goodwill or the recycling folks at Humberstone landfill. What remains is the space itself, a prime location right in the centre of downtown Fonthill. Are you a solo operator—lawyer, accountant, web designer—looking for a small office to meet your clients and/or adoring fans? Check out this rental listing and its incredible multitude of photos (as is now the real estate custom, even for a small spot like ours). I can vouch for the decency of our landlords—a younger Ukrainian-Canadian couple—and for the ample parking in our very own lot, not so easy to find in Fonthill.
Yes, we should definitely close with a song, and I know just the one. She was 29, and it went to number one. See you next time.
