Eclipse report

People came from all over. I had two friends from Iowa who came; one was from Ames and brought his two kids. Cars were lined up on the roads outside of town. Motels were charging too much and were full anyway.

It was a big deal for Carbondale, but to me this was an even bigger deal: it was not only on the line of totality for this eclipe, but also on the line of totality for the one in 2017, which followed a different line but also came right through Carbondale. Someone tracked the spot that was on both lines as somewhere over Cedar Lake.

It's an interesting phenomenon when people come from all over the countryside to be on a single line, whether that line passes through Carbondale, Dallas, or wherever. You have a convergence of people who have all come for a spectacle and presumably all have an opinion on whether it was worth it to do all that traveling. In a sense, all traveling is worth it, and Carbondale is a really special place, eclipse or not, but I think the convergence of the two lines is worth pointing out and I think Carbondale should present itself as eclipse capital of North America, at least for the moment.

But, it's over now, and basically that ship has sailed. People came; it got dark; it made the press; everyone saw the darkness; and then, they all went home. It was, after all, a Monday.

I'm dying to go to Carbondale for the big eclipse on April 8. To me of all the towns in the totality, Carbondale is by far the best.

I read something the other day about being in the 99% percent range is just not comparable to being 100%, so Marion won't do, and neither will Galesburg (where I am now), though I may have to settle for Galesburg. What I'd really like to do is take a day, drive down there, and see a number of old friends, and experience the total darkness while I'm at it. But I'm not sure I'll be able to pull it off.

The best place in Carbondale by far is the Tree improvement lands out on Thunderstorm Road. I'm not sure if the university wants me saying this, but they have a few acres out there with a pond and an old Civil WAr graveyard, in short a good place to get away from it all, and it's generally not heavily guarded with security. We used to take our dogs out there and they'd run around, jump in the pond, etc., and we'd all come back much improved, though I'm not sure we did anything for the trees. it's just southern illinois as it was before all the people showed up and it's very nice.

A place like that would have a million stars, but mostly only on clear nights in the fall. Southern Illinois in April is more likely to be cloudy, and I say that mostly as a warning to those of you traveling from a long distance. It's even more likely to be cloudy than Iowa or Galesbug, and that's because the weather system draws all that moisture up from the gulf, whether there is a shadow crossing over us or not. Really San Antonio might be a better place to catch it without the clouds, and there you can go across town and witness the difference between 99% and 100% as it's a very large town. The Alamo is small but SA is quite large and the skies are usually clear, unlike Carbondale.

Maybe I can make some eclipse pop art. I miss all my friends down there though, and that's my real reason. I just want to go back and see the place. And then see the darkness.

general report

OK so I moved back to Illinois over a year ago, and still haven't made it to Carbondale or southern Illinois, which is now about four hours away. There are a lot of reasons for that - raising teenagers among them - but that's what it is. I miss my people in so. Illinois very much and want to visit.

This post is more about the general plan to redo Boxcars on Walnut, which is poetry that came off of this site back in the years (1994-2012) that I lived in Carbondale. In those days I wrote a lot of haiku and put it in a book which has been saved here. And in the meantime I have switched over from making massive haiku attempts, 1000 at a time, from my extensive travels, to rather using the small-book format to tell little stories.

So it is time for boxcars to get a revamp. It will probably be very simple and clean, but it will happen in the next few months, and I will keep you posted.

The pop art on this site is something I'm attached to as well. But I've done nothing with it except leave it here, and maybe that's another goal I can set out to accomplish now that I'm in Illinois. I've become a kind of Illinois fan, Illinois patriot. I love the place. And I'm just sitting in my chair, in small-town Illinois, watching the rain (almost unheard of in New Mexico) and enjoying the way a small Illinois town (in this case Galesburg) can make you feel like you've got what you need.

back from the southwest

Ten years in Texas and New Mexico, and I got a little out of touch with what is happening in southern Illinois. We moved our family back over the Memorial Day weekend, and are now in Monmouth, near the Quad Cities and Galesburg, and are waiting to move somewhere in Galesburg in July. We are definitely enjoying the rain.

I may spend some time developing this site, which has always been kind of a tribute to southern Illinois, as well as trains. I am definitely appreciating Illinois, as Monmouth is very familiar in its culture and general atmosphere. The water problem may be opposite - they seem to be getting way too much of it - but in character, it seems comfortable. "Illinois is a lot like Iowa, only more so...." and "Iowa and Illinois are a lot alike, the only difference is, Illinois has a city in it..."

There's a secret that this blog will tell before other people find out. I am returning to Illinois.

The plan is to go to one of five towns: Galesburg, Alton, Bloomington, Quincy, Champaign, and to move about June 1. Why not Carbondale? Lots of reasons. I love Carbondale, but let's just say, lots of reasons. I'm glad I'll be close enough to visit.

The decision may come down to the house. Any of the five appear to acceptable for what we care about, decent school for a couple of high school kids. Also, proximity to kids and grandkids, and health care of various kinds. We've got some specific needs.

I may be able to add to this blog as time goes by; I'm glad it's still here.

Boxcars on Walnut, by the way, is languishing on the shelves; nobody buys haiku. But I don't care; I made it; I love southern Illinois; I love the haiku, and it's the first of several books I've made, so it has a place right there in my heart as a threshold of a haiku era.

More later; I'll keep you posted.

My autobiography & more

http://tlevspress.blogspot.com/2021/09/just-passing-through.html

Winston's memory

So the other night on the Carbondale facebook site the topic of Winston the Bagel man came up, since Winston was an institution in Carbondale and he had a lot of people who loved him and who are severely bummed that he's gone. My main response to it, after I thought about it, was, "somebody ought to write a book about him," which struck a nerve; people agreed.

After more ruminating, I decided that that person was probably me. I can, after all, write books. I memorialized Stone Soup Restaurant in Iowa City and I could do the same for Winston.

The problem is, I didn't really know him all that well. I wasn't in the 2 am drinking crowd, although I think at one time I did buy a bagel and I liked it, but he wouldn't know me if I walked right up to him. I just wasn't around that neighborhood at 2 a m very often.

So, it would have to be a romanticized version, to some degree - fiction - and I'd have to change his name. I couldn't just make up stuff about him that I needed for my plot. Still, I find the whole scene - the bars, down by the woods where the homeless people slept, down on the southeast side, 2 a m, all the students coming out of the bars heading for Winston's little bagel stand.....it's the perfect venue for a novel.

Stay tuned. I need details about him even if I choose to avoid to use his name or I deny any similarity to real people. Of course he'll be a good guy anyway; I don't think any of his heirs will object. It's one of my goals, long term, for the moment.