Coincidence.

When I was a little kid, I’m not sure how old, there was an eclipse and all the dire warnings not to look at it or you'll go blind, and I tried so hard but could not resist looking at it for about 2 seconds. I don't think I really saw anything. I don't know what kind of eclipse it was, I don't remember it getting dark. I was terrified the rest of the day, and I was crying in bed that night and there was some kind of big confession, but I didn't go blind.

Greencastle, Indiana is about 40 miles Southwest of Indianapolis.

On Monday I’ll be in Greencastle, Indiana, where I lived as a teenager, which is smack in the middle of the path of totality or whatever they’re calling it. It’s one stop on a too tightly scheduled road trip with several stops for research in courthouses and libraries and such. I found out yesterday that the county courthouse and public library in Greencastle, the two places where I had planned to spend Monday, are both closed for the eclipse.

I did not know about this eclipse when I planned the trip. I’m not superstitious, but I won’t say that eclipses are not here to fuck with you.

Another coincidence I realized yesterday is that I’ll be visiting my Grandma Lenore’s grave on her birthday. I had it in my head that she was buried in St. Paul, I guess because that’s where she lived the last 20 or so years of her life, but I was reminded that her grave is down the river in Winona, where she was born and raised. So the day of the cemetery visit changed and ended up on her birthday.

I’m up very early today, ready to fly to Columbus to visit my brother and his wife and pick up a rental car. My siblings and I will spend Sunday with my dad and try to help him figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Then Greencastle, Terre Haute, Chicago, Waukegan, Winona, and Minneapolis.