Today I was really struggling with agoraphobia yet again. I really didn’t want to leave the house, at all. It all just seemed to be too much. But Brad and I had a date planned. He said if I wasn’t doing well we could leave. And I didn’t expect to be out very long as we were mostly watching a show in the planetarium.
The York County Museum is a great museum. It is free on Sundays, but they don’t show the planetarium shows on Sundays. We’ve only been able to afford to go on Sundays. Last time we were there, we met one of the higher ups in the museum and she suggested we watch the planetarium show on the upcoming eclipse. We explained how we were both on SSI and didn’t have the money to pay full fare the rest of the week. So she gave us a free pass to come back on any day!
Today was that day. On the way in the museum, we passed some pretty yellow flowers and so got shots of Hestia, Hestia and me, and the three of us in front of them! That boded well for the day.
Two of the special exhibits in the museum were play areas for kids to learn about nature. They had a rock wall which I tried (unsuccessfully) to climb. They had a log you could walk on like a balance beam. They also had an interactive display of the water cycle using golf balls which was very cool.
We were among the first into the planetarium, so we got primo spots. The film we saw was all about the upcoming eclipse. The sun will be totally eclipsed in Columbia which is about 45 min to an hour drive from here, so we are planning to go. We got free solar glasses to watch the eclipse with! After the film, the person running the show put up all kinds of information about how and where to watch locally, and what the difference is in seeing a 90% eclipse vs a total eclipse.
The 90% eclipse will have some of the sun still showing. But the total eclipse will hide all of the sun, which allows you to see the corona of light around the sun that we normally cannot see. So we are definitely going to go somewhere around Columbia to watch the eclipse, which will last about 2 min. Plus a friend might be coming down to watch it with us, too!
After the show I was pretty much done with being out in public, but we went to the last new rotating exhibit which was pictures of a man’s views while out kayaking on the Catawba river. He collected balls and other trash he found in the river, and some of it was displayed in the museum. He even found things like a bowling ball and a fake duck!
Since I got out today and we ended up staying at the museum for like 2 hrs, I got a treat! Those stick candies that are like 5 for $1! Good reward for me for going out and about, I train myself like I train my dog.
Here are pictures of the museum:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RGBPJL7ut4gEydw73
Oh, and Brad last week went to the opening ceremony of the world championship BMX competition (I was having too much agoraphobia to go), and he wants me to share the pictures he took, too 🙂 He mostly got shots of the crowd and fountain, since it was more of a festival than anything else. So here they are:
https://goo.gl/photos/TA3EmW22hTxJRwJJA
Woooot!! Planetariums rule, and how awesomely kind of the lady 🙂 Fab pix as always, Brad, thank you for bringing those of us who can;t manage things like your outings a chance to live vicariously!! Team Blue totally appreciates it <3
We have fun doing it, and it inspires me to get out of the house when I know Brad’s going to take lots of good pictures he he he!
Looks like fun. I wish I could make myself get out and enjoy life more. You inspire my to try. Brad does a great job take the photos. I really enjoy them.
Thank you! Just imagine the list with you when you go somewhere new or scary. That helps me a lot, knowing that I am doing it for everyone, not just me!