Umbraphile

 

I have a confession to make.  Ever since 2017, I have been an umbraphile. There, I said it and I am proud of it.  For those who don’t know, an umbraphile according to Latin is someone who chases shadows.  The word is associated with those of us who chase eclipses.  Some of you laugh when I say that and speculate how you can chase an eclipse when it is right above you.  There is more than meets the shaded eye.

Growing up and hearing about eclipses I was intrigued but soon disappointed in the results of an off-centered shadow on the sun. The results were less than spectacular and the sky never turned dark.  And there were the lunar eclipses  that would highlight the colors and lines on the moon, but they were a passing phase (Pun intended.) and I looked at one and thought I had seen them all. 

In elementary school, we were given the glasses and the instructions to make devices to watch and catch the light from solar eclipses, but the devices never panned out where I was.

Then one day I talked to a friend of mine and he mentioned the word, “totality”.  Totality is the main line of travel that the moon takes in front of the sun that causes the shadow on the Earth.  If you are not in the totality, you do not get the full effect of the eclipse. I would like to say my scientific curiosity peaked, but alas, I was just a bit nerdy and wanted to see this for myself.  And so, my friend and I planned our scientific expedition to the totality of the eclipse of August 2017.  We tracked the path and found several places to go watch the passing of the moon overhead.  We settled on the mountains of Georgia thinking it would give us a place of quiet viewing and not be too crowded.  We headed out on the allotted day to prepare and ended up at Tallulah Gorge State Park in Clayton, GA.  We were excited and toured the waterfalls and the gorge the day before.  (Another story for another time.)  Upon early arrival the day of the event we were in a long line of traffic and the first to be turned away from the state park because of overcrowding.  We were devastated as we had no plan “b”.  We drove down the road and decided to get snacks at a local Walmart.  Upon arriving at the Walmart we discovered people setting up tailgate parties to view from the parking lot.  We staked our claim and set it up to view as well. 

The neighboring sky explorers had so many different ways of viewing the sky.  One family had matching welding masks, and some college kids had pitched a tent extending from their Pinto and were taking turns watching and napping. One kid had taken an old Spiderman mask and used film slides for eye holes. But directly next to us were a group of Mexican scientist who had equipment set up that was far beyond anyone else.  One of their major telescopes was hooked to a computer and already tracing the path of the sun in the sky.  The scientist let us look through their scope and I was amazed to see a bar code going across my view of the sun.  It was a mere speck, but that is what it looked like.  The scientist got excited when I mentioned it and looked as well.  It seems I was watching the International Space Station going by.  The icing on the viewing day. 

To the left of the Walmart was a wooded area and someone with a camper had telescopes on top of their camper and were in deck chairs flying drones and sipping from their drinks.  People with animals and kids running around and visiting each other and inventorying where each came from.  I went to Walmart to get snacks and water for the next couple of hours while we waited for the event.  At the entrance, there was a setup of fundraisers to help with a local children’s hospital.  They were getting a lot of visitors because of the crowds in the parking lot.  And to make this story even a bit more bizarre, the greeter was selling photos of himself from childhood.  It seems he was the kid who played the banjo in the movie Deliverance.  The whole area was a strange gathering of eclectic people who were waiting for just a few minutes of spectacular cosmic theatre.

As the eclipse started taking a more visual effect on us, I discovered the true meaning of totality.  The sunny ski grew darker and the temperature dropped almost 20 degrees.  The shadows were crisp with no running over the lines.   The animals in the area were restless and nervous.  Suddenly there appeared squiggly lines on the ground like heat from a summer sidewalk.  Some people thought they were snakes and started screaming.  The eclipse was reproduced on flat surfaces as it was shown through different devices and windows.  People across the parking lot looked alien in their protective glasses and welder’s helmets.  It was happening. The moon was like watching a giant packman devour the sun. Slowly the light disappeared.  The dogs around began to howl and only the artificial lights from the parking lot and Walmart were visible.  It was spooky, to say the least.  Then suddenly there was a flash of light around the moon better than any special effect that Hollywood could produce.  The circle was exploding with silent color.  There was an eerie silence that was suddenly broken by the crowd applauding.  We took off the glasses to watch the full effect.  It was amazing.  I thought of primitive societies and how the eclipses affected them and their religious beliefs. How they might think a god is angry or causing mischief. 

In less time than I can tell the moon kept moving and we had to return our protective glasses back to our face.  I was hooked.  I wanted a rerun.  I wanted to see what I had seen on film at least.  No image or video that I saw could do it justice.  The excitement of the moment had me giddy.  I was filled with a spiritual warm fuzzy and wanted more.  After the return to supposed normal, we set off back home.  A miserable drive due to the amount of skywatchers.  My friend and I talked about the eclipse and the effects and feelings we had during the event.  It was decided that we would try to do the next eclipse when it came across America again.  The next trip would be better planned with a place to settle ahead of time and not worry about being turned away, or somebody playing Deliverance music, or being stuck in back-to-back traffic for hundreds of miles. 

Saturday, October 14, 2023, is the next one we will see.  It will be an “annular” eclipse.  The moon’s orbit will not block out the sun completely, but it will create a ring of fire.  Again, this description is only in totality.  I am east of the totality and will only see about 79% of the eclipse.  This will make a crescent shape and still need to be viewed with special glasses.  My excitement level is not as high for this one.

However, because of the trip in 2017, my best friend and I will be set up and ready for the Great American Eclipse of 2024.  The moon’s shadow will come up through Texas travel in a slight arc and disappear at the tip of Maine all in a matter of minutes.  The shadow is moving at over 300mph.  The closer you are to where the eclipse begins the longer the duration of viewing. In Texas, you see the eclipse for almost 4 minutes in Maine just 2.  Our quest is planned and we actually have a plan “b” and “c”.  We are going to a town in Texas with a lot of history, open skies, and some great Airbnbs.  My gadgets will consist of a camera, a small telescope, and a colander (to make weird shadows and art).

I think that the event will grow as it approaches the date of the occurrence, but as long as I see the eclipse I will be happy.  The next opportunities to experience a total solar eclipse over the United States will be in 2044 (in North Dakota and Montana) and 2045 (as it crosses from California to Florida). I will be an old man, but I intend to be in their totality as well.  Keep looking up to the sky and enjoy.

Standby Curtain:

I don't care what they say, everybody knows the absolute best stories always begin..."Okay, so this one time backstage."

 

I have been involved in theatre for over half a century and have watched both the bad and the good.  My favorite mantra is walking into a show and saying, "Impress me."  However, I want to be entertained, not have my social conscience raised.

 

Oscar Wilde, said in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying, "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life". Oscar pushed his current events, man's struggles, and the life he knew.  Today, we have more choices, more theatre, and a chance to see life like we know it or life as someone else takes it in.  I am a fan of unpredictability in the performances.  The formula for a situation comedy that recurs in so many shows is ridiculous and makes me mad that I paid for the ticket. A great show has a great plot, high energy, and actors that push themselves to be better than they have been before.  Directors, actors and crew must really involve themselves and love what they are doing to create an artistic piece that the audience enjoys.  You really have to love theatre to be involved because it is an unmerciful life.  To enjoy a show it had better be as good as the price of the show, the dinner before, and the costs of the babysitter as well.

 

Cue Curtain...

Remembering the Airbase Fields and Baseball

 

As a child I remember going to the old Airbase ball fields.  My dad was a part-time baseball coach and worked some tiresome hours training a lot of young boys.  I was too young and way too small to play organized sports at the time and hung around my older sister, Lucy when we were out at the airbase.  We played in a small area of grass and trees and watched across an open air sewage ditch at the ball fields where the teams practiced. The fields were dusty, hot, and humid and the grassy area was a shade cooler.  While playing we had to be aware of snakes and insects that bite in the sometimes tall grass.

 

My sister and I played many a game in the grass and trees and watched a lot of wildlife come out from behind trees and get startled right back where they came. We were explorers.  One of the reasons that the grassy area had grass was a huge cylindrical concrete basin about four to five feet round and about four feet tall.  It had two metal tubes, probably lead, on the top facing each other and sprayed water in two arches into a concave dip of a bowl with a drain.  The tubes had running cool clear, clean water coming from them.  It was built to be a water fountain but today would be an excess and waste of resources.  There was a small step at the base of the basin that allowed small children, like me, to reach the top part of the concrete and lean over to the spout and enjoy the water as well.  Sometimes different types of birds would enjoy the water and the basin as also.  If the drain was stopped up by leaves or anything then the water would overflow and dose the surrounding areas.  Thus helping in the growth of the grass nearby.

One of my favorite things to do when we were there was to look for towers of mud structures that were anywhere from an inch to eight inches tall usually in the mud nearby.  These were the homes or entrances to a crawdad hole.  Some people call them crayfish, but that just means that they aren’t from our area.  We would take a small piece of raw bacon and tie a string through it and drop it into the hole of the crawdad mound.  As we lowered it we would swing it back and forth like fishing.  Suddenly you would feel a pull on your string and you slowly started pulling it up.  It was an art form to get it right, but once a crawdad had grabbed the bacon, they would not let go of it even after you pulled it out of their hole.  We caught quite a few small ones and quite a few large ones.  These were not the eating kind though because they were to near the sewage creek and lived there as well.  So, we let them go again.  The thrill was in the capture and their size.

When we tired of the grassy area we would head toward a sewage ditch also paved with concrete from a more industrial time.  The water was a dark but clear green and you could see all sorts of minnows and weeds growing in it.  The ditch was maybe four feet wide and maybe about 18 inches deep and a lot of the older boys jumped the ditch instead of using the old green wooden bridge.  If one of them missed they weren’t in any major danger other than pride and smelling funny in the hot sun. Mom was smart enough to keep us away from playing in the ditch, but we wanted to use nets and catch the minnow and sometimes small fish that came down the way. 

When you crossed the bridge you would see the baseball practice fields.  They were old and torn up and worn.  They had been used during World war two for several things and I was told in the fifties they were nice ball fields.  By the time I came around they were a dust bowl with a broken down fence and backstop.  The outfield blended into an area of tall weeds and the unknown, behind that was Hawkin's Airfield still in use.  The Backstop was a cyclone fence that looked like a bulldozer had changed its mind in mid destruction.  The bases were all worn out but in the right positions, but the track to them could be deadly with uneven ground.  The outfield was worse with uneven terrain and holes.  Once past the infield the sand and dirt didn’t quit.  You were in a Dutch oven the entire time you were out there.  Horse flies and mosquitoes were constantly biting. 

I later played ball here on a team that wasn't my dad's it was just as hot and not as fun.  I was not fully coordinated then and was behind some of the others my age in playing well.  My only advantage was my fast speed.  I was a jackrabbit then.  I just remember the heat and the effects it had on all of us.  Back then hydration was not a science and the coaches kept us from water from the time we arrived at Saturday practice at 7:30 am until noon.  Then we all ran for the concrete basin in the grassy area.  Being the small one I was last, the bigger boys were always first and the parched, sandy mouths had to wait for them to guzzle their fill.  If coaches thought you were doing poorly, and had lost a lot of water from sweat, then they gave you a salt tablet or two.  My first coach was an incredibly lean man who always had the most beat up baseball cap and a five o’clock shadow and a huge chew of tobacco in his mouth.  My memory of him includes the way he would spit the tobacco out if we made a mistake and yell, "Stupid, stupid, Stupid!"  He reminded me of a character from Andy Griffith except I was scared of him.  Another memory of these days was meeting at Rain's Elementary on Saturday mornings and all piling up in the back of a 55 Chevy pickup and lining the back rim of the bed of the truck and going down the road to the air base.  There were at least 20 of us boys bouncing and laughing in the bed bouncing and busting our back ends on the rim of the truck bed. The only place you were not allowed to sit or lean was the tailgate for fear of it opening.  As far as I know we never lost anyone out of the truck. 

Baseball was and is a way of life in my family.  I was not interested because of the lack of ability when I was younger and some bad coach/player experiences along the way.  Part of me wished I could stay home on Saturday Mornings to watch the cartoons, but the neighborhood was a baseball group and you were expected to play and be there.  I continued to play Little League in West Jackson with a group called the Iroquois League.  The team was sponsored by Parkview cleaners and we had ragtag wool uniforms that were hand me downs from teams long ago.  I finally got on my dad’s winning team in what was called Pony League.  I was older and wiser and a little bit better a ball player but my heart wasn’t in it.  Dad was a tough coach who had a winning team.  I was still smaller than most of the others.  Somewhere in the season, I decided I have had enough and didn’t want to play ball any more.  I wish I had stuck out the season, but I made up my mind.  Telling my dad that night was the hardest thing I had to do.  He was always happy when I played any sports because they had been such a part of his life.  I pulled a stool next to his chair and presented my case to him and quit the team.  I felt both relieved and also like I had failed.  My dad didn’t get upset, though I am sure there was some disappointment.  He told me that night how proud he was of me and that I could have the courage to come tell him I didn’t want to play ball anymore.  He told me he would help me find other things that meant more to me.  He kept his word and helped and encouraged me with Theatre later in my life.  My dad never ever made me feel like he was anything less than proud of me.  Baseball stayed in my life with him as a coach and my family playing on various teams and migrating to softball. Now my nephews have their stories of baseball and sports to tell.  Life truly goes in circles and there is great joy in watching them achieve their victories as well.  Dad would still be proud.

Peace

a quick note I put on Facebook.

I love going through my friends list that has the profile pictures. Each week I try to go through it and pray for all of you individually.  I find it amusing the diversity of my friends and family.   I have conservative, liberal, Christian, atheist, moderates,democrat, republican, Blacks, Whites, Asians, Indians,gays, straights, mean spirited, kind hearted, radicals, introverts, extroverts, capitalist, socialist, hard headed,soft spirited, similar, unique, normal, bizarre and much loved by me.  I may not agree with all you believe, I might even get really frustrated with what you do....but all in all I still believe in each of you as individuals and yes I will continue to pray for you all, no reason necessary except it is who I am and what I believe in.

Let their be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.


~curtain~

Why we are

     Ever wonder why we are the way we are?  Some will say environment, some will say heredity,some will say it is chemical, and some will say, “He just ain't right.”  I haven’t been right lately.  Stress has been a monster to me.  The monkey on my back so to speak.  I have let it take over.  This week at our school a student based worship service was taking place.  Because of this service I had extra duty standing in the cafeteria for an hour watching the students who didn't want to be a part of this event.  On top of that I am competing with a group in a festival, competing on an individual level as well.  Plus I had detention duty and test duty all in the same week.  I lost sleep and I haven’t seen many friends in the last week or so.  My budget is tight because it is right after Christmas.  In class I caught myself almost complaining about the worship service jokingly calling it a hop-a-long Jesus thing (A term coined by one of my deeply religious college professors).  One of the students in the class asked me, “Mr. McDade, are you a Christian?”  This is the first time in my life I have ever been asked directly by someone that wasn't about to ask me for money as well.  It caught me off guard.  Can’t they tell?  All my life I have been associated with church or church work.  When the doors of the church were opened I was there, when they closed, I was there to turn out the lights.  I considered several times in my life going into the ministry.  I wanted to be a preacher, a missionary, a youth leader or at least a Christian Comedian.  Instead I felt called to teach.  Not at first, but God has a way of putting you where he needs you.  Whether you want to go or not (Think Jonah).  Sometimes he has to hit you with a two by four before you start singing, “He touched me….”  “Yes,” I told the student.  Then I wondered what I had done to share my commitment to Jesus Christ in recent years.  I pray before meals, more out of self-defense than thankfulness. I lead the students in prayer before shows.  God and I talk constantly.  Sometimes He laughs at what I say too. I try to listen, but I get caught up in the mundane of daily living.  I get beat down by giving myself so much to do that I don’t take out the time to rest.  I do believe.  I also believe that God wants us to take time out and rest.  God showed us an example on the last day of creation by resting.  He tells us to take the time and come to know him.  The Bible is filled with “Be still and know I am the Lord, or Peace be still, or come unto me all you who are weary and I will give you rest.” God promises peace to those who take the time to listen and trust.  I am Kenneth McDade and I am a worry-a-holic.  I stress, I get depressed, and bummed out.  I want to quit sometimes and just say, “That’s it”…but I know there is more than the low times, there is the time I reach out for Christ and he is already there waiting for me, just to rest. I wonder sometimes if I hang on to things too much and too tightly, or am I letting go before I should.  The problems of a worrier.  My best times are when I give my problems to God and let go; hardest thing to do, but He is going to be up all night anyway, might as well let Him handle things.  I have a strong faith, it will not be easily shaken.  My foundation in my faith is strong.  I had praying parents, Grandparents, siblings, and family.  Later I had friends whose faith also helped me along.  But it wasn't until I made that personal step to have that relationship with God that my life changed.  Yes, I was very young, but what happens when you start loving someone is you want to do things that please them.  I love the God and all that He has done for me and my family.  I try not to over use the word blessed but I am and I am thankful.  So, please forgive my grumpiness as I push aside the me, that is oh, so human and strive for the better person I can be.

~Curtain~

Wrote down these thoughts on Christmas while out Christmas shopping:

1.Picking out the right Christmas tree is a science. Sneaking into your neighbor's yard to cut it down is an art.

2. I just put Santa hats on all my Halloween decorations.

3. Oh the weather outside is delightful, the balance on my account is frightful, what happened to all of my dough, I dunno, I dunno, I dunnnnoooooo.

4.Well, the people outside are frightful.

5. Giving me a Christmas ornament as a Christmas gift is like bringing vitamins to my funeral.

6. To all those who received a book from me as a Christmas present....They are due back at the library next Monday.

7. It only takes about 3 times of hearing the song "Frosty the Snowman" before I wish someone would push him into a hot tub.

8. If Jesus is the reason for the season.......why is that the church parking lot is empty and the WalMart parking lot is full?

9. Man, just think how crazy Gollum goes on the 5th day of Christmas.(For my nerd friends.)

10. If Santa’s helper takes a picture in the mirror, is that an elfie?

11. I love Christmas presents wrapped in bubble wrap... it's like two gifts in one!!.

12. In Dec, cops should take off the blue lights and make them green. It's more festive... Like getting pulled over by Santa.

13. What happens under the mistletoe stays under the mistletoe. (Actually saw this on a sweater...but it fit my list.)

14.He's making a list & checking it twice. ...sounds like Santa has OCD.

15. BOx of Batteries, Toy not included.

16. Handmade presents are scary because they reveal that you have too much free time.

17. If you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

18.You know you’re getting old, when Santa starts looking younger

19.Christmas is a race to see which gives out first your money or your feet.

20. Christmas hospitality does not extend to driving.

That should do it for a while. Looking back over this list may explain why I am not even halfway finished with my shopping. MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all. Remember there was only one real Christmas, the rest are just anniversaries. 

The Angel that Troubled the Waters

The story of “the pool at Bethesda” alludes to the following excerpt from the Thornton Wilder play, “The Angel that Troubled the Waters”. The play is based on the biblical verses of John 5:1-4, but it changes the end of the parable from the Biblical story that Jesus tells.

The play tells of a physician who comes often to the pool of Bethesda, hoping to be the first in the water and healed of his melancholy and depression when the angel appears and troubles the water. Everybody at the pool also hopes to be the first in the water and thereby healed of their malady.  An angel appears and blocks the physician at the moment he is ready to step into the pool and be healed.

Angel: “Draw back, physician, this moment is not for you.”angel1

Physician: “Angelic visitor, I pray thee, listen to my prayer.

Angel: “Healing is not for you.”

Physician: “Surely, surely, the angels are wise. Surely, O Prince, you are not deceived by my apparent wholeness. Your eyes can see the nets in which my wings are caught; the sin into which all my endeavors sink half-performed cannot be concealed from you.”

Angel: “I know.”

……………Interlude………………

Physician: “Oh, in such an hour was I born, and doubly fearful to me is the flaw in my heart. Must I drag my shame, Prince and Singer, all my days more bowed than my neighbor?”

Angel: “Without your wound where would your power be? It is your very sadness that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Love’s service only the wounded soldiers can serve. Draw back.”

Later, the person who enters the pool first and was healed rejoices in his good fortune then turns to the physician before leaving and said:

“But come with me first, an hour only, to my home. My son is lost in dark thoughts. I — I do not understand him, and only you have ever lifted his mood. Only an hour . . . my daughter, since her child has died, sits in the shadow. She will not listen to us but she will listen to you.” 

_________________________________________________________________

For me, this story has an incredible story and, because the message is—“Without your wound where would your power be? “— This phrase carries so much meaning. I feel that it is only through my weakness I can see others like Jesus does.  I believe, for me, it is my whole foundation for who I am.