Solar Eclipse: The Big Questions

We have two big questions about the looming Solar Eclipse. Or maybe three.  Come to think of it . . .  five, or twelve. 
Briefly:  


How come Casper, Wyoming,   and  Lincoln, Nebraska,    and  Carbondale, Illinois were chosen to be 
Points  of   Totality,   and not us?   

Denver is a fine town with more than its share of space geeks. 

We can't help but wonder what we did wrong,   or failed to do,   to knock us off the list. 

We think we missed the application deadline or something.    Probably something to do with our preoccupation with the Broncos quarterback situation. 

In any case, it just doesn't seem fair!  I mean, Carbondale?  Really?  *

We get only 92%. We believe we deserve better. 

We need to talk to the agency officials in charge of deciding who gets what before the next one.  

What are the criteria?   

Did we even know about the deadline for putting in a bid?  

If they can be so organized about the Summer Olympics, how can they screw up the Solar Eclipse?  Really.   

Where do we go to register to see the Solar Eclipse on Monday?    

It seems a bit late in the game to go without any getting any news and direction about this.
The television, newspapers, and radio are no help at all.  

So,  what if we miss it?   What if we're still standing in line?  Can we watch it again, later?  When  is  the second  go   around? 


Do they think we just  know  this stuff? 

We thought, at first, go to the  DMV.  But they can't even handle the load of Drivers' License renewals                                    (ooo, which reminds me...)

Perhaps we should go to our town hall.  Or maybe the Post Office.  

Frankly, we think it should have been a mail-in, like Voter Registration. Easy.  

And what   if   we miss it?   When is the second go around?    When can we watch it again, later?

Not meaning to whine, but we have a longstanding hair appointment for the time announced for Denver.  We can't go outside with silver paint on our head.  We need choices. 

Surely, there is another option in the schedule.  

We wonder when that is.  We need to make alternative plans.

And who made up the schedule anyway?   

Why a week day, Monday no less!   Everybody knows that people are the most productive on a Monday.  Now, to waste it. Wrong, wrong, wrong.  They should have put it on a weekend. 

And, once more, not meaning to whine, but why select only certain towns for the Point of Totality?  

That of all things is un-American. We should be equal. Are there laws about this? 

Somebody needs to step up.    Not us.  We have bigger issues to attend.  

But this is not nothing, and we felt it needed a flash in the (no pun intended, or noticed, until editing) 

Sun. 

Finally,  whose brilliant idea was it to call it a "Point" or "Zone of Totality?"   

I mean, seriously,  entirely seriously: 

we are living with the threat of a  

REAL "Zone of Totality:    in a nuclear war. 

Granted,  we didn't see that coming, at least not right now.

But, we have to confess, the term is more than a wee bit eerie, given these circumstances. In fact, it freaks us out. So, for today, we're sticking with our preoccupation with The Big Questions about the Solar Eclipse. That's reality we can handle.*** 

*      not one of the official questions. 
***   "Mankind  [sic]  cannot live with too much reality."       _ Berthold Brecht

How to be just exactly like Yo Yo Ma! Now! It's easier than you imagine!

What's up with you? 

What are you up to, today? 

    Not sure.       Clueless.      Too tired.     

    Pet the dog.     Find food.    Fly a kite.    

    Feed the dog.   Walk the dog.  

    No dog.    So, 

What might you do today?

Curiosity may have killed the cat but it has exactly the opposite effect on us.

What if ....  you explore something you're curious about today?

What if ... 

Curiosity   ---  asking questions, 

questions like "who goes there?"   or

         what the heck is that?      why is it there?   

         who did it?       how?         why on earth? 

         why did....?      why does....?     how did....?"

         what can ....?          when does....?  

are the best antidote to boredom ever! 

Curiosity makes us human. 

It makes us interesting. 

It gets us interested. And moving.

Yo Yo Ma ignited his musical genius wit h curiosity.

His fascination with people led him - a musical prodigy - to go to Harvard and study: 

                                    anthropology!  

In an interview with Krista Tippett  *

[On Being,* podcast March 3, 2016, unedited ],

Yo Yo Ma describes his lifelong curiosity, 

his interwoven passion between music

and what it means to be human... 

the driving and consistently parallel 

tracks of his development... were music

but no less, his incsesent curiosity about

humans and culture... what is it with us...

how we express ourselves... musically,

with language, and, 

 in every way  ... 

in every aspect of life:  

why do we as individuals, and as cultures,

acquire different habits?    

for example... after he moved to NY from Paris,

at age 7 or 8, had to wonder,  

why did we invent square white bread, 

and peel-off cheese?  and

why do some have rounded baguettes? 

The master cellist has brought his earliest

preoccupation:

Who did it?   And why?  

to his deep musical sensitivity, and

to exploring the varieties of musical expression

in different cultures. 

Curiosity can send us in all directions. 

What makes you curious today? 

Any ideas about what you might do today, now?

I have been an 'anecdotal anthropologist' 

all my life.

Studying people.

Curious, about their  why's, most of all;

"How come you are this way, not another?"

Those answers are pretty dang elusive, even

if we go into deep analysis of ourselves. 

But they are interesting. And often worthwhile. 

Or, at least, interesting. Maybe mildly interesting. 

Maybe not.

But I know this: 
one thing always leads to another. 
And it gets interesting. 
And useful...
fast. 

Happy curiousing!