Joan and I will be close to home in August of 2017 since a total solar eclipse path will pass right through Central Oregon a bit north of Bend and Redmond. You can read a nice overview of the 2017 eclipse route at eclipse2017.org. And, NASA has a Google map of the complete path so if you’re not in Oregon you can check out the total eclipse locations (red line) near you. Southwest Kentucky will have the the greatest eclipse time of about 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

This total eclipse will be special in that a large number of states across the country will get a good view. Back in 1979, a couple of NW states were in the path and in 1970, Florida was in the path. Prior to those, in ’45 and ’54 a couple of states each were in the beginnings of the TE paths. You have to go all the way back to 1918 to even get close to what we’ll experience in 2017.

I noticed some “cob webs” at the ends of some branches in the front-yard tree. Upon closer inspection you could see hundreds of worms within the webbing. A little research online at a site called All About Worms and I’ve determined that we’ve got webworms. They’re not really harmful, and it’s mostly folks with fruit trees that would show the most concern.

Webworms spin very strong webs at the ends of branches and the worms inside munch happily on the leaves. You can treat trees in the spring with different types of insecticides. Pruning and clearing fall leaves form the ground are suggested techniques, also. The site suggested that if the web is split open, birds and wasps will have better access to the worms inside. That is what I’m trying.