An Amazing Gift From an On-line Friend and A Buck Moon - Magic

Sometime in the afternoon DH texted me to say there wasn't any mail in the mailbox, but that a Priority Mail package had been left at the front door. Hmmm ... I was a bit bewildered by that. I always have packages delivered to the shop - don't want porch thieves grabbing my things. And I wasn't expecting anything. When I got home, I saw it was from an on-line friend in Nebraska. I've known her for many years, but we've never met. I send her holiday cards every year, and we bond over hockey - we're both big ice hockey fans. When I opened it, I was floored and DH was almost speechless. 

DH was absolutely floored. "That's an 
amazing gift you got from a stranger," he 
said several times. I think he's totally 
envious. It's a gorgeous jersey and I have 
the BEST friends EVER! 

Look at this beauty! It's a Winter Crossover Classic NHL Licensed Kaprisov jersey - it's a BEAUTY! I'm going to be wearing this during hockey season and loving every minute of it. It's hanging in my closet, and I'm going to be stroking down the sleeve whenever I see it. I have two other hockey jerseys - one from the Minnesota North Stars without a player's name, and one generic MN Wild Jersey - again without a name. To have a Kaprisov jersey ... DAMN! So happy! 

I should be able to see this as long as we're not 
cloudy. I'll be swimming under the Buck Moon, 
so it should be a totally magic swim. 

Today will be wild and crazy, and it's also a Full Moon, and a Super Moon, so if you're able to see the moon from where you live, it'll be worth the look today. Of course, I wanted to do my "Meditation with the Moon" Full Moon day today, and it wasn't loading up properly. GRRRR  Actually, Insight Timer was having problems for me today and it's usually a very stable app. I restarted my phone but that didn't seem to help either. I think it's on their end, and I'm unhappy about it. Still, I did get one guided meditation in, and it's a very busy day, so I got moving right after it ended. I'll try to make a bit of time this afternoon and see if things might work a bit better. 

I use Insight Timer for my guided meditations - at 
least for the bulk of them. It's an excellent app, and 
it's free - even better - LOL. It's got a lot of teachers 
whom I like and follow, so it's a total win. But today 
the app wasn't working well for me. I don't know 
if it's them, or the Super Moon, or my phone, but 
it wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. GRRRR

As you can tell, it'll be busy today. I'm already dreading next week when I have an eye doctor appt on my Wednesday, and then have to go to the shop to work for Chickie. That's going to blow my whole week out of the water. I won't be able to do my grocery shopping, my laundry will have to stay dirty for another two days, basically, I'm already VERY unhappy about having to give up my Wednesday. Yes, it's in a week, but it's the one day of the week where I'm always crunched for time. Nothing to be done ... needs must. 

Needs must - it's an odd twist of words. It comes 
from old English. The quote above comes from 
Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

On that note, I'm going to work some of this joy and some of this frustration out in the pool today, so it should be a good swim - LOL. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow ... a Kaprisov jersey ... DAMN! LOL 

Random Thoughts on a Super Blue Blood Moon Day

I was hoping to see the Super Blue Blood Moon (check out this link to find out more) this morning, but since it's currently snowing, that's probably not going to be happening. Oh well, instead of watching the moon, I'll be getting a little more exercise as I shovel the driveway before heading off to the gym. Not really what I had planned this morning, but not the end of the world either. 

I was hoping to see some of today's Super Blue Blood Moon, but
since we're snowing, it's unlikely that I will see anything but
clouds. Oh well! 

I am assuming that some of you in the USA were good, politically savvy people, and watched the "State of the Union" address last night. I have to admit that I watched other things. If I hadn't watched Super Bowl commercials and "The Curse of Oak Island", I would have buried my head in a book. I decided that I didn't need to hear a lot of empty rhetoric and promises. I'll probably read a quick synopsis of what was said today sometime, or not. I've been in this country for a long time now, and SOTU addresses have rarely, if ever, actually had a direct impact on my life. 

I'll read a synopsis and analysis of the address sometime today. I
just couldn't stand listening to the propaganda last night. 

On today's agenda, aside from the usual multiple loads of laundry, are two necklace repairs for customers and maybe trying to get the fax portion of the new printer hooked up and operating properly. I rarely bother with this aspect of printers, but I have a couple of suppliers where orders are preferred to be submitted by fax, and every so often I need to use one. The fax machine I have at the shop died last year, so it's either get this attached and functional, or ... well, I can live without it, but I'm curious about whether I can do this successfully or not. Looking at the basic directions, though, it might be easier to just email the purchase orders to my suppliers. Ick! 

It's not difficult to attach the printer to the phone
line, but I don't want to receive a bunch of crap
faxes either. I might skip doing this after all. 

Of course, attaching the fax portion will entail cleaning one more cubbyhole in the computer room. Maybe that's why I want to do this. It could use a clean-out, and I'm always happy when one more part of my life has been re-organized. Of course it is adding work, but what the heck. It's my "day off", right? LOL

So, on that note, I hope many of you have better luck seeing the Super Blue Blood Moon this morning than I will have, and that you have a tremendous Wednesday. I'm going to wrap this up early, grab a snow shovel, and see what progress I can make on my driveway. 

Once In A Black Moon

I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase "Once in a blue moon", but a black moon? That's what the Western hemisphere is experiencing today. A Black Moon is when two new moons occur in the same month. It's rare, but not ridiculously so - not "once in a lifetime" rare. But what really tickles me about this particular black moon is the timing of it.

If you;re into astrology, this black moon is a major opportunity. It will
specifically affect those who are born under Scorpio, but will also have
ramifications for the opposing sun sign - Taurus.  

As I said, the Western hemisphere has a black moon today. But what about the Eastern hemisphere? Well, you, my friends in the east, aren't getting your black moon until the end of October, just in time for it to usher in Halloween! How can this be? It's a question of timing.

New moons are times of beginning, black moons are times
of a bit of introspection. This could be the perfect
opportunity for you to begin a new task or make a change
in your life. 

My black moon occurs tonight, but because of the time difference between us and GMT (or UTC if you prefer), much of the world actually won't have this black moon occurring in September. Instead, much of the world, including my friends in Europe and the UK, will have a new moon starting out October with their black moon at the end of next month on October 30th.

No matter what, time continues to pass on. I just loved this clock
image and had to share with all of you. Have a wonderful Black Moon! 

Of course, you can't actually see a black moon, it's the dark side of the moon. But if you could, you'd see it straddling the calendar tonight. Although getting down to it, calendars are artificial constructs codified to show the passage of time historically and in a unified manner. Calendars are the historian's best friend - except when they're not. But rather than dive into the maelstrom of time measurement and the fun things that can go wrong there, just enjoy your black moon ... or not. In the case of the Eastern hemisphere, enjoy your first New Moon of October happening soon at a location near you. Happy Friday to all!

Pretty Pictures - Nights and Moons

Last night as I was driving home from work I was mesmerized once again by the moon. Now this is nothing new. I recall bouncing around in my yard as a child shouting out (P...'s moon, P....'s moon *and that's as close as you'll ever get to my birthname*) because I found it so magical and wondrous. It still works its spells upon my soul. So even though I am very much a sun worshiper - rising to greet each day and bidding it farewell at sunset - there is something very special about the moon. I think it is time for a photographic blog post, and today I'm honoring the moon.

We'll start out with this lovely shot of the moon and roiling clouds. It's rather
ominous, in a way. But stunningly beautiful. 

This picture of the moon behind tree branches almost seems as
though it was taken from someone's lit patio or yard. The lighting
gives the tree branches a really interesting golden glow to offset the
silver moon. 

I've always been fond of the moon with superimposed branches look, and
this pic is one of my favorites. It's stunning, crisp and clear. 

I love the brilliant gold of a harvest moon. I also love the
optical illusion that makes the moon so large at the horizon and
so small overhead. Yes, there are some changes in orbit, but not
that much. The differences are caused by atmospheric curvature changing
the optics. It's a stunning effect. 

And finally, to give credit to other aspects of the moon, a lovely waxing moon
over the treetops on a clear night. 

Are you all ready to go out and howl today? The moon seems to bring out the beast in people, or is it the best in people instead? In either case, I love the moon. Enjoy your Tuesday and look for the almost full moon in the sky tonight.

Shedding Light

Tonight will feature a full moon, and it is my hope that it will cast a clear light upon the members of the Supreme Court as they hear arguments about gay marriage on Tuesday and Wednesday. The actual case decisions won't be handed down until June so we will still have weeks to wait before finding out if the Court will take groundbreaking strides into acknowledged equality and recognition of same-sex couples and LGBT rights. So, since I'm hoping for clarity of light, I'm going to make today's entry a photo blog of the beauty of moonlight.

So, I hope these pictures will help you keep the moonlight and clarity of its white light in mind today as life goes on. Now, if that clarity will only shine on the Supreme Court Justices today and tomorrow...

Holiday Wishes and Navajo Cops

For those of my readers who celebrate Easter or Passover, I wish you good holidays. Passover begins at sundown tonight, and today is Good Friday in the Christian calendar. I remember Passover celebrations from when I was a kid quite fondly, it was my favorite holiday. I loved finding the hidden matzoh, I loved leaving the empty chair for Elijah and all of the food - oh my, the food was wonderful. The wine, on the other hand, kosher wine just doesn't cut it. The wine was terrible.

DH was just down here, awakened by the full moon shining in through his bedroom window. It is as bright as a streetlight, you could read from the moon's light this morning. What a wonderful awakening, I didn't even mind the interruption for such a glorious sight.

Monument Valley is one of the stunning vistas on the Navajo Reservation

I'm really tired today, only got 4-1/2 hours of sleep last night because we found a new addiction. DH was flipping through On-Demand the other day and came across a show from the National Geographic channel - Navajo Cops. In the manner of other live-action police shows, it follows a group of individual cops on their rounds. But this takes place on the Navajo indian reservation - the largest reservation in the nation. It encompasses 13 counties spread across portions of three states a huge landscape. The cops deal with usual and unusual problems - not just alcohol and gang problems, but also protecting archaeological materials and investigating witchcraft such as skinwalkers - a very real thing on the reservation. We're addicted, it's like being back home again. Both DH and I spent a lot of time on and in the Navajo Reservation. It's a pleasure to just hear the accents again :-)

Friday - Another Week Closer to Ending

Today is Friday. For most people it means the last work day of the week. For me it means that the next two days of work will be shorter - but I will still be at work . This season is SO long!!! So even though I am fighting time to get everything finished and gifted or shipped on time, I will be SO happy to see the end of the season again and have a day off on Christmas Day.

Tonight will be joyful for me though. If the skies are clear, I will be able to see the largest full moon of the year rising at sunset tonight. I love the moon - when I was very young I called it my own. Having the moon shine through my windows at night while I was a child was amazingly comforting. Rather like a signal of hope and love - to have the light in the nighttime as well as the light in the day. I adore the stars also. However, I have noticed serious light pollution. I think, sometime before I die, I want to visit someplace in the world where they don't have light pollution so that I can see the sky in its' full glory. The way that the Creator intended us to see the stars before we turned night into day and threw our circadian rhythms into complete trash.