Final Adventure Opens with an Eclipse

I didn't realize until recently that a solar eclipse would take place during the final week of our summer adventures. It works easily into a story about the abduction of the Firebird who lives in the Golden Mountains of the Sun, so here is my plan for Monday.

Anyone who has a pair of solar glasses that are safe for sun-viewing is welcome to bring them. For those of us who do not have them, we will be using the oldest image-creating technology known to humans, the camera obscura. We'll make simple box viewers, and also use some simple tools, to create images of the eclipse.

I thought about viewing the eclipse indoors, but it just seems crazy not to experience the event in nature. We have enough fear in the world right now, and with some clear-headed science and information, we can safely experience the strange change of light.

I'll work it into our story, naturally--and the rest of the week will seem so much brighter for the courage and wisdom of the choices we make on Monday.