Moon Matters

When you know it’s there, you have a better chance of finding it. That’s how it is with the moon.

For many years I thought that Sun ruled the day; Moon ruled the night. But there were times when I’d see the moon during the day. I’d just shrug it off and tell myself, “Huh, that’s odd.” And I’d wonder why it’s not in the news or at least on the weather.

Sometimes my wife and I would notice the moon phases that are printed on some of our calendars. So we’d look for the Full Moon after dark. And we’d put out our collection of crystals so they could soak up the moon energy and get recharged.

I learned the terminology “waxing” and “waning”. I came across the idea that you could ride the energy of the waxing moon; I would plan dinner meetings so they’d take place when the moon was nearly full. It seemed that folks were more likely to register for the event during the First Quarter Moon than at other times. Conversely, when the moon was waning you would withdraw, reflect and release.

I paid attention to the times of moonrise and moonset with the “Phases of the Moon” app. I made sure my bedroom shades were down during the waxing moon so as to avoid getting roused by the gibbous moon at two or three am. (As I write this, it’s 5:19am; the waxing gibbous moon is lighting up low in the western sky.) And I was richly rewarded one pre-dawn morning when I knew that the waning crescent had risen; sure enough I saw it in the East as I swayed my head back and forth to find a break through the trees.

It’s exciting to know that the New Moon rises at dawn and is in the sky during the day. Solar Eclipses occur during a New Moon, when the moon passes between Sun and Earth. And Lunar Eclipses occur during a Full Moon, when the moon and sun are on opposite sides of Earth.

The moon cycle lasts about 28.5 days. On day one, the New Moon rises at dawn (roughly) and sets at twilight. Each day it rises and sets about an hour later. So the next few nights afterward, look for the waxing crescent moon in the West just after sunset. Then, about one week after the New Moon, look for the First Quarter moon just before sunset to see the moon during the day.

I hope you’ll learn more and start to look for the moon at various times during its cycle. Enjoy!

Wednesday Weigh-In 20211117

I've heard of various beauty products that are made from such things as jelly fish or snail slime. These are just biological manufacturers of mucous. If you want mucous, I've got plenty, and I'll let you have it at a reasonable cost from my Mucous Farm.

Waist = 43.00"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20211110

I've had a sinus infection during all of October. I totally lost my sense of smell. I couldn't even detect peppermint oil. Finally it seems to be coming back.

Waist = 43.0"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20211103

I thought about doing NaBloPoMo this month, but I'm too exhausted to try.

Waist = 43.0"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20210818

Just working on breathing and praying...

Waist = 43.0"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20210805

I've been taking Rosuvastatin 10mg for a couple of years to lower cholesterol. But recently I added Irbesartan 75mg for high blood pressure, although the doctor wanted to start me on 150mg dose.

Waist = 43.0"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Virtual Visit Back Home

I’d been reminiscing about my childhood – the neighborhood, the house I grew up in, and especially the backyard. So I took a virtual trip “back home” using Google Maps.

Google Maps starts out in Map View. I switched first from Map View to Satellite. The image seemed to have enhanced perspective, so the house seemed taller. It looked as if a second story was added to the 1-level ranch I grew up in. Then I switched to Street View and saw the property as if standing in front of it.

The house itself looked the same. There was no alteration. Because it’s brick, it was the same color. However, the landscape had been redesigned recently. The strip of grass next to the driveway was paved over (I used to park on it anyway). The huge azaleas were replaced with weird-looking topiary plants. The wood fencing that was silvered with decades of sun exposure was replaced with shiny white vinyl fencing. But the most devastating change was this: all the trees were gone. We had four oak trees in a row that we’d hide behind or zig-zag through on our bikes. In fact many trees around the neighborhood were gone. It made me sad.

Adding to the sadness is the fact that the street view images were taken in November, so the few trees that were there were already bare. The photos were taken on a brilliantly sunny day, so the shadows were long, and the images were bleached from over exposure. And no people were about, as if the population was wiped out by a plague – quite a contrast to my memory of how we used to play in the street or stand around and socialize with the neighbors.

You can visit many places with Google Maps, but you can’t go back in time.

Google Maps