Do you understand muon2's question? If you do explain it to me. 
There's a total solar eclipse cutting across the country in August! I don't live quite at the spot where the sun will go entirely behind the moon but I'll be close - here is a map of travel times to the optimum viewing range!
Would you like me to help Grumps with a simple analogy?
By all means!
Partial eclipses are pretty cool and happen about twice a year somewhere on earth. But if you aren't watching for them (with special filters) you might not know they are there. Here's a picture I took in 2014 when there was about a 25% eclipse as seen from my house. Think of getting a base on balls to take first.
On Aug 21 the sun will be about 84% covered as seen in da Burgh, kind of like the picture below. People may notice the light dim just like if clouds came across the sun, but you still need a filter to stand the direct light in your eyes. This is still exciting but still relatively common, kind of like stealing second base.
In BK's area the sun will be reduced to a sliver and only put out about 100th of its normal light. It will feel eerie like when a tornadic storm is in the area. People will likely stop what they are doing to take a look, though even at 1% of the light staring will hurt your eyes. This is getting rare, like stealing third base.
But the total eclipse is some else entirely. The Sun is completely blocked and stars are visible in the dark sky. Civilizations though the end was near when they saw it. I was in Wrigley to see Javier Baez steal home in game 1 against the Dodgers in the NLCS. Stealing home to score - that's the total eclipse. And yes Grumps, if you were thinking of my analogy in terms of
Paradise by the Dashboard Light, that was my intent.
