Thanks for the comment on my pictures. Actually, it was a lot of effort on my part to get them, but I felt like it was an important & rare enough event that it would serve as a good bookmark in time for me & my life - so I can go back someday and reminisce. The whole eclipse event was a bit over-hyped, but that's no reason not to take part in the event, in my own small way. My wife, my dogs, the truck breaking-down, rowing around the lake on my canoe - it's important to me to mark how well I spend my time, because I'll never get that time back again. Time is the most precious commodity that anyone has. The older I get, the more I realize this - and I'm only 44.
As far as other precious commodities go... I love silver for 2 main reasons. First, when it comes to money, you always hear that the first rule of investing is: "Never invest more than you can afford to lose." Buying physical silver, and holding it yourself, eliminates any risks of losing it - other than the ever present risks that already exist - like theft, loss, or destruction. That can already happen to your dollars or whatever else you have, so no increased risk is associated there. Your money remains in your own pocket. The spot price fluctuates a bit, so there are good vs. bad times to cash it in, but your risk of "losing it all" is eliminated. Second, we may - possibly - at some point in time - get this "moonshot" in silver that the silver-pumpers have been hyping for decades. They make ads and videos all the time, breathlessly hyping the benefits of holding your own precious metals. Who knows - when the current debt bubbles go "pop," it's very possible we could see silver going past $150 or $300. Nobody knows if or when that might happen but, if it does, I'm not going to be complaining about having a good stack of silver bullion in my safe. Otherwise, worst case scenario is this: I have saved my money in a way that prevents it from being denied to me at the exact time I might need it. Stacking physical silver seems like a solid strategy for wealth preservation during any time of financial uncertainty. And, we seem to be living in interesting times...