My sights are set on Winter. I consider December the start of Winter. It is the coming of the Christmas winter wonderland weather that does this.
So looking at The Sky This Week for what to expect, the news is that a full beaver moon and lunar eclipse happened this past night. "The November moon got its name for the time of year when beavers scurried to their shelters ahead of winter, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. It was also the season to trap beavers for their thick pelts during the fur trade, the Almanac notes."
"During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon passes through the Earth’s outer shadow, called the penumbra, and misses the darker inner shadow, which is known as the umbra," Accuweather says. "This is different from a total lunar eclipse when the entire moon passes through the darker umbra."
"The November full Moon has other monikers, the Almanac says: the Frost Moon, the Freezing Moon and the Digging or Scratching Moon, dubbed for animals foraging for nuts among fallen leaves."
I got to see how bright it was when Millie went out in the night. But it is cloudy up there now at 6:00am.
"The next event is the "super conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21, 2020. That date is, coincidentally, the date of the December solstice. It'll be the first Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since the year 2000, and the closest Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since 1623, only 14 years after Galileo made his first telescope."
Here's an astronomy joke that reflects my sense of the state of things in the U.S:
A popular bar had a new robotic bartender installed. A guy came in for a drink and the robot asked him, "What's your IQ?" The man replied, "130." So the robot proceeded to make conversation about physics, astronomy, and so on. The man listened intently and thought, "This is really cool."
Another guy came in for a drink and the robot asked him, "What's your IQ?" The man responded, "120." So the robot started talking about football, dirt bikes, and so on. The man thought to himself, "Wow, this is really cool."
A third guy came in to the bar. As with the others, the robot asked him, "What's your IQ?" The man replied, "80." The robot then said, "So, how are things in America these days?"
A frivolous moment at the Watering Can last week - air plants as jelly fish, and the 'pink sofa' corner.
