If there is ever a moment, or a day, that I will remember for the rest of my life — this is one of those days.

We went down to Fox Prairie Disc Golf Course in McLeansboro, IL, to play the course, see the total eclipse, and Unstable Discourse also recorded a podcast with the course designers.

Be sure to tune into Unstable Discourse for this episode which which is out now on all podcast streaming locations.

UNSTABLE DISCOURSE PODCAST

Before our group tee-d off we ran into Matt Kruger, co-founder of UDisc. I remember meeting Matt at the 2016 Maple Hill Open when the Disc Golf Pro Tour started (you may know the Maple Hill Open today as the MVP Open).

It was wild to see him here at Fox Prairie with his son, and it was so nice to witness Sean and Sheila Callahan, and Unstable Discourse meeting him for the first time in person.

Moments like this are why I document the culture of disc golf: to put this moment into context, Sean Callahan is the course designer of Illinois’ #1 rated course, The Canyons, and Matt co-founded UDisc: the scoring app, course directory, and course ranking system that is utilized by most disc golfers today.

We are all just out here doing what we love, for the love of the game.

Fox Prairie Disc Golf Course was established in 2022 and was designed by Birkner, Hunt, Stricklin, Halley and Halley. This course is 18-holes and has 3 multiple tee placements on each hole (Blue, Red and White).

One of the best moments from today that still gives me goosebumps was seeing the excitement that Sean and Ryan had meeting someone on the course that was wearing a t-shirt from their Werk Force Brewing tournament. It really is a small world, even when you are just five hours from home.

The level of detail that has gone into this course does not surpass me. It was incredible.

Every line - every tee was so carefully thought out in the design of Fox Prairie Disc Golf Course, down to the smallest details that make you just want to smile.

Every hole out here is a vibe. We dubbed Fox Prairie “The South Woods,” reminiscent of the Northwoods of Wisconsin because of their lovely pine trees.

As you walk through the course each hole is like its own independent environment. Some holes are wide open, some are thickly wooded, and there is room for challenge at every skill level whether you play the Blue (long), Red (middle) or White (short) tees.

This is where we started to really notice the eclipse light start to change on hole 9. You can see through the green disc just how orange and different the sun was today.

The Unstable Discourse Podcast crew from left to right: Alex Seminary (Disc Golf Chicago), Ryan Fancher (Unstable Disc Golf Gear), Sheila and Sean Callahan (Dellwood Disc Golf), and Jason Callahan (Standing - Baig of Tricks).

Chris Brenholtz (my love and diorama designer) and I (Lauren Lakeberg).

The light started to get really bright from the eclipse here as it reflected off of the moon.

Okay… this light. I just need to take a moment here. I wish we could have this reflective light everyday not to mention it was really hot out, but as the moon began to cover up the sun it cooled off and all the humidity began to disipate.

Everyone is glowing here! Eclipse light is the best.

After hole 12 we went out into the field to watch the total eclipse near the tee of hole 13. Everyone stopped what they were doing, where they were at, to witness this rare moment.

At this point my white balance in my camera could not figure out what to do.

I actually did not take a picture of the eclipse. I don’t know if I should kick myself for that. But honestly, I’m so glad I just sat there to experience because there is nothing else like it. What you see in pictures and video does not even compare to being there.

Just before we reached totality, and just after, we saw waves of light radiating on the ground.

Timelapse of totality

In totality, it looked like day and night at the same time. All around us it looked like the sunset on the horizon as we sat in shadow. It felt like a dream looking at the moon in front of the the sun.

The day time animals turned off, and the night time animals turned on. We heard an owl hooting, coyotes howling, crickets chirping and we saw the stars for the 4-minutes that we were in totality at roughly 2:00 pm in the afternoon.

When the light came back it smelled like morning dew.

It felt like the energy around us had shifted after the moment. I felt calmer.

It took a few minutes for everything to return to its normal routine of birds chirping and flies buzzing. It was something I will never forget, and I will be in my 60s the next time the total eclipse comes back to the U.S. in 2044 and 2045.