I drove north of Cincinnati a few days ago to see my first total eclipse. I had seen a partial one before and almost didn’t see this one because it seemed redundant (one passed through here in 2017 that was, I think, 90%). Turns out 10% of the sun is still a lot of sun and the totality is quite amazing to see in person. It was eerie and surreal, almost other-worldly. I know how dramatic that sounds but it really was, everyone should see one at least once. It was also nice to be a part of such a communal event. I experienced not only the eclipse itself but also the journey there to see it with a group of friends and then we in turn experienced the eclipse event with literally everyone in that particular field we were posted up in in Oxford, OH (not to mention everyone in the totality’s path). It was a shared experience on a lot of levels. 

My first memory of Cincinnati was from when I was a little kid. My dad is a truck driver and he used to occasionally take me with him on one of his short trips. I remember driving through Cincinnati and being absolutely thrilled to see a familiar sight: The Hall of Justice. I was a big-time fan of the Super Friends cartoon (which had been redubbed ‘Super Powers’ by the time I was watching it in the mid 80s). The Hall of Justice was the home base of Superman, Batman, WonderWoman, etc. I even had the playset. Turns out the fictional superhero home was inspired by the Queen City’s Union Terminal. It was great to see it again.