A solar eclipse and a monkey at large

I enjoy reading local newspapers whenever I travel, as I learn a great deal about other local communities. People in our area look forward to reading the Cape Gazette for the same reason. We want to know about events which are relevant to our everyday lives.

Last week's eclipse was the topic of interest in all social media. The last time a solar eclipse crossed an entire country was June 8, 1918.

Last Monday, I happened to be visiting my uncle and aunt who retired to Johnson City, Tenn., years ago, and I was looking forward to seeing the eclipse at a good vantage point.

On the morning of the big event I was sitting in the local barbershop waiting for my uncle to get a haircut, and reading the local paper, The Johnson City Press. Just like in Lewes, the local library was offering special glasses for viewing the sun safely.

Yet another article's caption caught my eye: "Monkey named 'Pretty Boy Floyd' at large in Knoxville."

The article states, "The Capuchin monkey first appeared about 10 a.m. Monday on the deck of Ron Merritt's home ... I thought my girlfriend was going crazy. She said, 'There's a monkey out here on the deck.' I said, "There's no way.' Sure enough he was out there."

According to the article, Merritt said he called animal control while his girlfriend gave the monkey some bananas. Animal control officers responded and futilely chased the monkey with nets until he fled in the trees. Then about 8:45 p.m., Jamie Fuller, a Knox County resident, spotted the monkey again. Fuller has owned four Capuchin monkeys for about five years, so she brought one of her own monkeys to help search for the missing pet until 3 a.m.

Apparently the owner of the monkey was out of town to view the solar eclipse when his pet escaped.

The article concluded, "It's not clear whether the monkey's behavior was affected by the rare astronomical event."

Animals behave differently whenever there is something they can't sense or understand.

When the eclipse began to happen in my uncle's yard, the grasshoppers, which normally create their cacophony at night, began to make a deafening chorus of chirping sounds. When the eclipse ended in a few minutes, all was quiet again.

I called my neighbor Ruth to tell her about the monkey business and to find out about what she saw here in town. She had signed up to receive glasses and to participate in the eclipse program at the Lewes Public Library. "It was like putting black tape over my eyes," she said. "But when I looked up, the sun became a crescent moon. It really looked like dusk."

I enjoyed reading Ron MacArthur's article "Eclipse mania sweeps the nation" in the Aug. 18 Cape Gazette. He quoted Judi Provencal, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Delaware, who explained why the event was so special.

"It will be probably be the most photographed and videoed eclipse ever, and maybe it will motivate the next generation of astronomers."

I hope Professor Provencal is right, don't you? And I like to think that Pretty Boy Floyd made it home safely too.