Photos taken during the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse across North America. Elkton KY was directly in the path of totality. Note the crescent-shaped sunbeams on the gravestone.

The scheme to actually view the eclipse is worth retelling. My daughter, being 16 years old, was supposed to be in school that day. So at about 4:30 am, we left my modest apartment in Cuyahoga Falls OH and headed south. I called my daughter absent from school as soon as the office opened for the day. And as I approached the Ohio/Kentucky border, I called her mother to inform her that I was taking her across state lines as was mandated in our divorce decree [that went over real well]. We weren't too far into Kentucky though before traffic started to get bad. Lots of people poured onto the interstate to get to that band of totality. We had planned to get to Elkton Cemetery 90 minutes ahead of when totality would begin. As it turns out we arrived with only 15 minutes to spare.

McReynolds's grave is under a tree but there is a small clear area nearby where we threw down a blanket and had a late lunch while we waited. The eclipse itself was incredible. My daughter's words were "No wonder people thought the world was going to end."

Coming home was an adventure in itself. The highways were stopped traffic the whole way out of Kentucky and into Ohio. I had prepared for a 7.5-hour drive home but the actual trip was 14 hours. Just north of Dayton I was nearly out of gas and had to drive off of the shoulder to get to an exit, past other drivers trying to stop me from passing (with one giving us a loud "FUCK YOU!").

As for the final resting place of ol' Jimmy C, many are aware of what an unpleasant bastard this guy was. To call him an asshole is underselling it. Anti-Semitic, racist, and just an all-around jerk. So after I took all my photos, I took a moment of silent reflection to spit on his grave.