Hi Laura,

It is just the pattern of how the Sun, Earth and Moon align. Each eclipse can be see over just a small part of the globe, so no one place gets very many.

Here is a map of the total (blues) and annular eclipses (red) paths for the first 20 years of this century, so you can see what I mean:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas3/SEatlas2001.GIF

(hybrid eclipses are total in some places and annular in others)

As you can see there will be an eclipse seen in the continental US in August of 2012. There is an annular eclipse which should be visible in parts of the western US this May, weather permitting!

best,

Terry