No feverish eclipse obsessions around here this year. As opposed to 2017 when we were on the totality path.
I went to the lake with my raft that year, expecting it to be jammed in boats, to find myself nearly alone on the reservoir.
I was not feverish or fanatical about it before or after and couldn't explain even to myself why not. Yeah, its a rare thing but some people turn it into some mystical event that affects them, in some spiritual way. I can not understand it.
This year I'm not sure many people bought the eclipse glasses or even looked up into our cloudy skies to see if the sun with part of the moon over a corner, appeared. I didn't. The sky did not darken more than it already was, from cloud cover weather gloom.
This years winter seems one of the longest and gloomiest ever. Seems like the rains will never end. Drags on and on. But we do have two nice days coming up, allegedly. Looking forward to those.
Here's the video I took with a cell camera of the 2017 eclipse from the lake. It's nothing special, and you can't tell its eclipsing but its what I have.
Rarely, I buy a lottery ticket. Once I won about $12. But someone won the powerball lottery with a jackpot of over a billion dollars. Someone in Oregon. Immediately I began messaging friends I know buy tickets to ask "Did you win it?" I really hoped by some miracle of the odds just because the winner is in Oregon I might know them. Like my Lebanon friend who needs the money to buy her own place. Like the Lebanon couple I know, always renting out rooms in their rental to relatives who lost their place to live, who want a house of their own. Like so many of the tiny hard working cat helpers I know, and what they could and would do for good with such money.
Who knows who won. The winning ticket was sold in north Portland near the airport and might even be some outsider, passing through, bought it at a convenience store, then grabbed a plane on to somewhere else.
I don't know what multi millionaires even do with all that money. Own too much to even manage? Go insane? Some give a lot away. Become liked only because you have money? Party too much? I don't know. I can't imagine it. Most people I know can barely keep up on rent and electric and water bills.
If the eclipse had been here I would have done my best to see/photograph it. It wasn't.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what people do with multi millions. Or if it makes them happy.
I would have also, had it not been only 20% and we already knew here it would be clouded over.
DeleteI can't imagine what I'd do with a billion dollars. There are many good and helpful ways to spend it, but I hear that figuring how to do that is very difficult. That's why so many rich people have foundations. I would like to win $100,000. That's an amount that I think I could figure out how to spend.
ReplyDeleteI think it goes way way down if a person takes the lump sum, down to like 600 some million. Then after state and federal taxes, that goes down to like three hundred some million. Boy, a long way from the original 1.2 or 3 billion. But still.....
DeleteI'm sure having that sort of money comes with a lot of problems and one day I hope you can deal with them very well.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to have the chance to have those problems, lol. Wouldn't that be a nice challenge.
DeleteI love eclipses, but I have yet to be in the path of totality. One of these days... Sigh. Nothing mystical, though. I'm a science geek.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if your area will get its turn.
DeleteI can't remember a time when so many people were struggling financially just to survive. I have been using the same tree trimmer for about 15 years now. Hardest working person I know. Yesterday he trimmed my front yard tree, I asked him how he's doing, and he just broke down in tears. Said he's been told to vacate his rental of 19 years. He's late 40's/early 50's, wife and five kids, and can't find anything even remotely affordable to rent. Broke my heart to see him crying like that.
ReplyDeleteOh that's horrible. I hope they find somewhere. It's terrible like that here too. My friend and her daughter moved to Michigan from Sweet Home when their landlord evicted them, to sell the house they'd been in many years. They found a place there, to buy, not rent, for a price we'd consider here dirt cheap. With five acres and outbuildings. She was born in N. Idaho but its too expensive now and Montana for some reason has turned super expensive.
DeleteI remember this sad story about your friends in Sweet Home, and the woeful tale of that tree trimmer is heartbreaking. It seems that big lottery winners end up worse than before unless they make sure to hire wise, ethical financial planners. Meanwhile, I bet you and I would set up a wonderful cat sanctuary. ;D Best wishes to you, my dear.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be nice. HOwever, with dwindling cat numbers here, I spend still a good deal of time with my litter scoop, so we'd need a lot of excellent litter scooper volunteers or employees, while we lounged, drinks in hand, by a pool, of some sort. I can see it!
Delete