I’m always shocked by how many people in the Kingston region have never been to Frontenac Provincial Park.
Located less than an hour north of Kingston, Frontenac is classified as a semi-wilderness park with more than 160 kms of trails and several canoe routes through the stunning rugged backdrop of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere.
Popular youtube vlogger Canoe the North recently chose Frontenac Provincial Park to explore for his first backcountry canoe trip of the season and to film the April 8th solar eclipse.
The first twenty minutes captures the essence of Frontenac Park: its breathtaking scenery even in early spring with amazing drone footage (one of my favourite shots is the stars twinkling in the night sky), the wildlife, stillness and calm of this special place. The last 10 minutes includes stunning footage of the total solar eclipse.
If it was cloudy in your area and you missed the eclipse, or you just want to see why I love this region so much, you have to watch this video. Enjoy!
Get ready, the apoco-eclipse is coming Monday, April 8. Here in southeastern Ontario, we are in the
….PAAAATH…..OOOFFF…..TOTALITY (said with a low booming echoing voice for maximum effect.)
For a whopping three minutes, the moon will pass in front of the sun and the earth will be in total darkness during the middle of the day, from 3:22 to 3:25 pm to be exact in South Frontenac.
From all the warnings and hype about massive traffic snarls and millions of visitors expected in the region, you’d think the world is coming to an end. My retinas are already burning from reading all the warnings about not looking at the sun directly and how to view the eclipse safely.
Granted this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. The last total eclipse in North America was in 2017 over the northwest US, but back then the eclipse’s path just 71 miles wide, compared to 122 miles AND the total time the moon completely covered the sun was just 2 minutes, 40 seconds compared to over 3 or four minutes this time depending on where you live.
I wasn’t sure just how big a deal this was, so I decided to ask an expert, my old high school buddy Brad Gibson, Professor and Director of the E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Hull in England. Brad does presentations and TedTalks on subjects like will we ever live on Mars, the top 10 coolest things about outer space and are we alone in the universe?
Being the cool astrophysicist dude he is, Brad confirmed that “a total solar eclipse is always a blast”. He said they aren’t all that rare if you look at planet Earth as a whole since once every 18 months there is a total solar eclipse somewhere on the planet. In any given city, it’s more rare, like once every 300 years. I asked Brad what he’ll see in the UK and he said they’ll see a partial eclipse with about one-third of the sun blocked.
I also didn’t know that some weird and wonderful things can happen during an eclipse too. Animals can get confused thinking it’s nighttime, radio waves have been known to become scrambled, and seconds before totality, you may see shadow bands, or wavy strips of light and dark dancing on the ground like water at the bottom of a swimming pool.
During the time of total darkness, you may also see the stars and planets, especially Venus and Mars. Now that’s cool.
Personally, I’m more of a northern lights, super moon, meteor shower kind of gal. The nighttime celestial shows outshine any daytime event, even the apoco-eclipse, throwing it into the shade.
This week’s #HappyAct is to get your ISO-certified eclipse glasses and get ready to enjoy the spectacle on April 8. And for those nighttime celestial lovers out there, they say tonight’s a good night to see the northern lights.
I was standing on my dock today, watching the sun sparkle on the water on yet another glorious summer day, and all I could think was “How lucky am I?”
How lucky am I to be able to wander up my driveway on a jet black night, gaze at the stars and milky way, and watch meteors stream across the sky?
How lucky am I to have a family who loves me and makes me laugh and who I still want to spend time with more than anyone else in the world?
How lucky am I to be healthy and happy in a world where at every turn, there is a constant reminder we should never take our health for granted?
How lucky am I to have never enough, but enough, money for my wants and needs?
How lucky am I to have a spouse and partner who deserves his crown as the President Choice of Husbands?
How lucky am I to have friends and neighbours who look out for each other and know the value of community?
How lucky am I to watch the grin on my first-born’s face as she lands a five-pound bass after it dances across the water?
Some people say, just be lucky you’re alive. But being alive doesn’t make you lucky or happy.
I have had my share of loss, grief, pain, fear, doubt, and uncertainty.
But how lucky am I?
Note: There’s still time to catch the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids peak every August as the earth passes through the debris of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. They are supposed to be even more spectacular this year. Last night didn’t disappoint. I saw three meteors, one fireball that spanned the entire sky. We found 11 p.m. to midnight to be the best viewing time. Look to the northern part of the sky near the big dipper. For more on star gazing, see my post gaze at the stars.
Star gazing has always been a bit of a hobby of mine. I love looking up at the stars on a crystal clear night and seeing the stars emerge and envelop the night sky.
Stars are powerful. They dare us to imagine and connect the dots, to see princesses, kings, and creatures from tales from long ago. They inspire us to dream and to make wishes.
Stars lead us on journeys and lead us back home again. Above all, stars connect us with our world, the greater universe, and our fellow man. They put our lives in perspective. Sometimes when I walk at night and look at the stars, I think of the people in other parts of the hemisphere looking at the same constellations I’m gazing at. It makes my troubles and worries seem smaller somehow.
Next Saturday is the Winter Solstice so this week’s Happy Act is to star gaze. If you live in an urban area, this might be more of a challenge. Make an outing to a dark park on a clear night (but stay safe—don’t get mugged!), or drive out of the city, park the car and look up into the sky. Get one with the universe. If you’re lucky, you might see a falling star, and your wish might come true.
Some tips this week if you live in Eastern Ontario. Queen’s University Observatory has a free Open House the second Saturday of every month. Check it out. There’s also an area in North Frontenac that has been deemed a dark sky viewing area. Finally, we’re luck y to have one of the leading astronomers, Terence Dickinson live in our area. If you can, watch for and attend one of Terry’s talks. If you’re new to star gazing, this short video will help. See if you can find Orion, Cassiopeia, The Big Dipper, which is an asterism, a constellation within the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear and Ursa Minor which is home to the North Star. My favourite is Pleiades, a cluster of seven stars known as the Seven Sisters. If you’re interested, ask Santa for a good little constellation book you can take on your nightly walks.
Happy Act 