The eclipse, Kyrie Irving and crowded sidewalks all fall under this column’s Path of Totality

With summer coming to a close, it’s a good time to pile together a few random thoughts about recent events here in Athens, Ohio and around the country.

• It’s amazing how Athens can go from a quiet summer city to a packed university town in one day. The streets and sidewalks are suddenly jammed with people and it pretty much changed overnight, just as it does several times each year. It’s one of many things that I like about Athens, but it’s always an adjustment.
• The eclipse on Monday was interesting, but I’ll be honest, I was a little worried about germs with everyone sharing eclipse glasses. I hope we never have a big eclipse during flu season.

• How did the city of Athens take a two-lane West Union Street with parking on both sides and normal sidewalks and turn it into a two-lane street with parking on both sides and extra wide sidewalks? Where did all of the space for the sidewalks come from?
• I warmed up for the eclipse by staring at light bulbs several times on Monday morning. It’s just like stretching before a big run.
• It seems odd to have the East Union Street hill (also known as Jeff Hill) as a two-way street again. I want to drive down it just because I can now, but I don’t ever want to meet another car on it. It seems much narrower than the new block on West Union Street.
• I have never seen Game of Thrones, so I have no clue about what most of the country is talking about every Monday. I just talk on Mondays about what I saw on America’s Funniest Home Videos.
• I heard one family in the packed city of Athens today remarking about how surprising it was to see the old-fashioned parking meters that actually take coins. I had no idea that we have old-fashioned parking meters.
• While I would have liked to have seen the total eclipse that other parts of the country observed, I don’t know if I ever want to be in a “Path of Totality” for anything. Doesn’t that seem like an ominous term? At the same time, I can see the national media falling in love with the phrase now and using it for all kinds of reasons.
• “Kyrie Irving wanted to be traded so that he could be out of the Path of Totality that is playing with LeBron James.”
• “These new headphones provide a Path of Totality of sound from your phones to your ears!”
• “The offensive line created a Path of Totality for the Cleveland Browns running back to cruise through for the touchdown!” Mark it down, you will be hearing phrases like these this fall, and this is the year the Browns finally have some success. They have been on the Path of Futility since the 1990s.
• Doesn’t it seem like the road construction crews have just been paving and then tearing up and then repaving Columbus Road all summer? With the name of “Columbus Road” you could also call that road a Path of Municipality.
• When will we start seeing news reports about people whose eyes were damaged by the eclipse? Was anyone surprised that Trump appeared to look directly at it? At the same time, I looked directly at it a few times, too, so I can’t say much. It was just too tempting. It was too bright so I couldn’t see much of the eclipse anyway, but fortunately my vision is already back on the Path of Normality.
• I don’t know if Irving’s trade request was a good idea or not, so I guess I am in the Path of Neutrality. I do know that he is an amazing player and I’ll still cheer for him wherever he plays.
• It seems like they have so many deaths on Game of Thrones that it’s almost like the characters think they are on a Path of Nobility but in reality or on are on a Path of Fatality.
• I promise this is my last stupid comment, so I guess you could say this column is on the Path of Finality.