Small town businesses embrace total solar eclipse crowd, come rain or shine on Monday

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — Small town businesses are embracing the eclipse crowds, as weekend festivities heat up before Monday’s big event. Overcast skies are forecast for Monday’s cosmic wonder across Texas, already packing in eclipse chasers. Daytime darkness will follow a narrow corridor from Mexico’s Pacific coast to Texas and 14 other states all the way to Maine and the eastern fringes of Canada. Waxahachie, a half-hour’s drive south of Dallas, is pulling out all the stops with eclipse-themed soap and other goodies. The last time a total solar eclipse passed through North Texas was in 1878, and everyone wants in on the action.