Moonhowlings

The Foxies must have zipped down route 7 and visited the Loudoun County Courthouse in Leesburg.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has offended the Foxies for doing what his Republican predecessor did, sending an invitation for a Tree Lighting Ceremony.  Lincoln Chafee has defiled Christmas!  The nerve! 

As the Foxies ring the death knell for Christmas, we are reminded that the Pilgrims actually banned the observation of Christmas and fined anyone decorating 5 shillings.  Oooooops.  Christmas Day has not always been the biggie that it is today. 

Why do people want to fight over this issue?  There is no War on Christmas.  Seasons Greetings, Xmas,  and Happy Holidays have been around since I was a kid at least and probably a lot before that.  Let me assure you, ‘since I was a kid’  is a long, long time ago.  

In addition to being a religious holiday, Christmas is also an American holiday.  Why?  Because Americans like it and want it to be an American Holiday.  Christmas is both religious and secular.  The religious part of Christmas is personal and based on one’s religion.  The American part of Christmas depends on customs and local culture.  People of all faiths participate in decorations, carolling, parades and above all, the office Christmas parties.  Americans invite their friends and neighbors in for holiday cheer or something warm to drink.  They don’t check a person’s religion before extending an invitation. 

The Foxies need to let up and quit stirring up trouble where none exists.  Let’s let Americans and Christians continue with the reason for the season, whatever theirs happens to be.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is certainly the star of the giant east coast December snow storm.  He is twittering all over the place and out there rescuing people in destress.  He might even be wearing a superman cape.  He has delivered diapers to a family who was out, helped shovel out cars,

According to the New York Daily News:

Trapped in Newark after Blizzard 2010? Mayor Cory Booker wants to rescue you – and he’s only a tweet away.

Booker has been tweeting up a storm, personally responding to tweets from citizens stranded by snowed-over streets. For days, Newark’s hero mayor has helped dig out buried cars and snowy roads – and even delivered diapers to a stranded Newark family.

“Highland Ave b/w Bal and Berk not touched yet. My sis can’t get out to get diapers,” Timothy Hester frantically tweeted Booker. Hester lives in Virginia and tweeted the mayor on behalf of his snowbound sister Barbara, who lives in Newark.

The valiant mayor tweeted back, “I’m delivering the diapers now. We will get to her street soon.”

Read more…

It looks like everyone is going by the rules….but is there more to it?

Nativity Scene (And More) At Leesburg Courthouse: MyFoxDC.com

I find it odd that they continue to allow any displays at all.  On the other hand, is a Christmas tree a religious symbol? I have always thought of Christmas trees as a symbol of the season.  Its origins were pagan and at least in America, Christmas is a national holiday.  The tree is its symbol.  Christians do more and have their own special relics and artifacts of the season.  And that’s a good thing.  But for right now, I like the tree being neutral, like wreaths and candy canes.  Anyone who objects to Christmas trees, wreaths and candy canes is just a grinch and trying to make an issue.

This Tuesday brings a special treat for Winter Solstice.  Not only is it Solstice but also there will be a full moon.  And it just gets better.  There will be a full eclipse of the full moon.  The eclipse starts  on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am. As it begins, the earth’s shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the moon.  It takes about an hour for the “bite” to swallow the entire Moon. Total eclipse is  at 02:41 am  and lasts for 72 minutes.

If you aren’t planning to enjoy the entire eclipse in the dead of winter in the middle of the night, choose this moment: 03:17 am.  That’s when the moon will be  displaying  the most vivid  shades of coppery red.  The next full eclipse of a full moon on Solstice will be December 21, 2094.  I expect to miss that one.  This Solstice is a very special celestial treat, if the weather holds out.

Interactive charts and maps

Christmas is a goner. Just ask Gretchen the Grinch. Jon Stewart brings reality back. He reminds us all that Christmas survived the Rome Empire.  Totally great cartoon. 

Does it matter that cards we receive say Seasons Greetings?  Does it matter that sales clerks we don’t know tell us to have a great holiday instead of Merry Christmas?   Is it something to be paranoid over?  Is there really a war on Christmas? 

The Leesburg Courthouse is always a place to look for some good old Christmas spirit and good old controversy.   Every year it seems warring factions go up against each other over the right to display Christmas decorations on the Courthouse lawn.  This year some decisions were made early–back in September even. 

A little refresher course is provided:

According to TDB (September):

The policy that the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to maintain provides equal access for unattended, semi-permanent displays on the grounds of the historic courthouse in Leesburg.

Displays are open to all who apply, but the number of displays is limited to the ten locations on the grounds that have been designated as display sites. The Board also voted to limit the period of time for filing a display application to no earlier than one year before the date the display would begin.

The Office of the County Administrator has received six applications to date for displays, five of which are for the 2010 holiday season. Information about how to apply for a display on the courthouse grounds is online at www.loudoun.gov/courthousegrounds.

Read more…

Sam Stone aka "B. Virdot"

This month’s Smithsonian Magazine features the story of B. Virdot’s mysterious letter in the Canton, Ohio newspaper during the Great Depression. 

Saturday, December 4 is the 65th annual Manassas Christmas Parade.  It begins at 10 am rain or shine, cold, or not so cold.  The parade lines up in front of Manassas Shopping Center on Mathis Avenue and heads up Center Street, going towards Grant Avenue. 

This is a particularly special parade because of our very own star!  Cindy Brookshire will reign as Woman of the Year. 

Cindy Brookshire and Parade Chair John Martin

Here is Cindy’s bio published on the Christmas Parade website:

Cindy Brookshire has lived in Manassas 29 years and is an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Old Town Manassas. She worked for the Prince William Journal newspaper, Publishing Partners, Inc., and is currently a contractor producing monthly newsletters for the City of Manassas. She is an active member of the local Chamber of Commerce and proud member of Leadership Prince William, Class of 2010.

Read more…

OOooopppsss…I forgot to hit send.  Better late than never.

Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 3-9, 2010

From the Prince William County Website:

With all the recent fires, I thought theh PWC website sure wouldn’t mind if I lifted their announcement:

In a fire, smoke spreads fast, leaving you only minutes to escape. Smoke alarms provide an early warning, giving you the time you need to get out quickly and safely. In fact, they cut your risk of dying in a home fire nearly in half. Of the approximately 2,800 home fire deaths each year, roughly two-thirds result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or with smoke alarms that don’t work. That’s why smoke alarms belong in every home and why they are “A Sound You Can Live With!”

If you cannot afford smoke alarms or are unable to install them, the Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue will supply and/or install them free of charge. Remember, if you are renting, your landlord is responsible for providing smoke alarms. You may call your local fire and rescue station or 703-792-7736 for assistance.

Tonight the normally bright harvest moon goes on steroids. Not only is tonight full moon but it also is the autumnal equinox. According to the Washington Post:

Get ready for a night show. It’s tough to come to grips with the end of summer. Luckily, autumn will enter with a bang this year.

Not only will Northern America witness the beginning of autumn at 11:09 Eastern tonight, there will be a full moon in the sky. Put those two occurrences together and you’ll get the rare “super harvest moon.”

“The two sources of light will mix together to create a kind of 360-degree, summer-autumn twilight glow,” NASA Science writes.

When farmers relied on moonlight to extend harvesting hours, they started calling the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox the harvest moon. If the full moon fell on the first actual day of autumn, it became “super harvest,” or the “harvestest.”

The event has not occurred for 20 years, and probably will not reoccur until 2029.

As an added bonus, Jupiter will appear very close to the moon tonight. NASA’s Tony Phillips writes: “A Super Harvest Moon, a rare twilight glow, a midnight conjunction–rarely does autumn begin with such celestial fanfare.”

Celestial events are always fun. They are more fun when there is a little folk lore to go along with them. We celebrate with our new phases of the moon tracker right under the moonhowlings icon. Thanks Alanna for planting the moon phases for us.

Many, many myths and old wives’s tales are associated with full moon. Science tells us that the tides are affected by the moon, but is that all? Lunar Lore tells us the following:

The Moon and Birth
Female reproductive cycles respond to the lunar cycle.
Medical staff report that women who have already had children are significantly more likely to give birth on the day of the full moon.

Health around the Full Moon
A research team8 at Leeds university found a significant increase in visits to medical practices for consultations after the full moon.
Doctors report an increase in epileptic seizures and bleeding ulcers at the time of the full moon.

I am one of those weird people who is affected by the full moon. I have 2 biological children. In both of their cases, I went into labor on the full moon. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

The Moon and Accidents
Alcohol consumption rises at the start and end of the lunar cycle. More drunk drivers, more crashes and more hangovers occur at this critical time. It’s hard to know if the astrological connection between the Moon and liquids or the Moon and emotions is the root cause.
At the time of the full moon, hospital accident and emergency units see about 10% more patients13. 80% of casualty nurses and 64% of doctors believe the moon adversely affects patient behavior.
Crimes of violence increase at the full moon.

 

Many religions center around the lunar calendar. Jjudiasm is one such religion. Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Check it out.

So Carpe Nox. Enjoy the light and the night. Happy Howling! This thread is dedicated to Elena who told me Moonhowler hadn’t done enough to celebrate the Super Harvest Moon and to our friend, Charlotte.

The autumnal equinox occurs on September 22 at 11:09 pm. The sun will be directly over the equator. Day and night will be equal. Starting then, we will lose about 2 minutes of light per day until the winter solstice. Then we start to gain, until the summer solstice. On November 7, we will fall back and go on regular time.

Changing leaves, apple picking, football, soccer games with the kids, chilly evenings and warm days are all symbols of fall. Its time to plant flowers that survive the winter like ornamental kale, cabbage and pansies. Watch out for squirrels. They are suicidal this time of year.

And let’s not forget election day, the first Tuesday in November.

What’s your favorite season and month?

Some space dates from space.com

The full moon (Harvest Moon) and the equinox fall on the same day.

Wed., September 22, evening
Jupiter, Uranus, and the Moon
Just after sunset, if you look to the east you will see the Full Moon rising. Soon it will be joined by brilliant Jupiter, just below it, one day past opposition with the Sun. Look closely with binoculars or a small telescope, and you will see the tiny planet Uranus, also just past opposition, a degree above Jupiter and its moons.

Thu., September 23, evening twilight
Venus at greatest brilliancy
As Venus draws closer to the Earth, it looms larger in size, but its crescent grows narrower in as it moves in front of the Sun. Tonight it reaches its greatest illuminated extent, and hence is at its most brilliant, magnitude – 4.8

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Batten down the hatches, here comes Earl. And if Earl doesn’t get us there is Fiora out there and then some unnamed menace behind her. Yes, the hurricane season is upon us.

Right now, the most eminent danger is Earl who is classified as a category 4 hurricane at present. The Outer Banks and coastal North Carolina are right in his path. The weird thing about hurricanes is that they have a mind of their own. Earl could slam North Carolina or it could veer right abruptly and head on out to sea, to die a slow death as it reaches colder waters. No one totally understand hurricanes.

A century ago, before weather instruments were as exact, people didn’t have much warning about hurricanes. Huge killer storms  were right on top of people before they knew what hit them.  Hundreds, even thousands were killed.  I am sure people felt the air, the fallen barometeric pressure , and saw extra mushrooms coming up in unexpected places. But they didn’t always heed what little warning they did have.  Folks in Texas, along the Gulf Coast and Florida probably have been beaten up the most from these killer monster storms. They are not alone, however.

  Read more…

USA TODAY – It’s something you may not want to hear. But with Easter approaching, have you ever thought how many calories does a chocolate Easter bunny have in it?

USA Today found a five and a half inch tall, solid chocolate Easter bunny has 958 calories in it.

If you break it down, you may feel better.

The head has 82 calories.

The ears have 49 calories.

For those who plan to munch on the rest, the legs have 279 calories and the body has 537 calories

I wonder if that is 49 calories for both ears or 1 ear? Betcha it is per ear.

From 9News.com

May your basket be full of all that is good.

Who would ever think that those beautiful Japanese cherry trees would be the source of so much contention? Japanese Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo gave 3,000 cherry trees to the city of Washington, D. C. in 1912 , honoring the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan. Apparently that friendship was to be sorely tested shortly after Pearl Harbor when the military had to guard the trees. Americans were so angry over the bombing of Pearl Harbor that they attempted to hack them down and to set them afire.

Read more…