Advent moon

Cosmic Calendar Perspective

 Carl Sagan's Cosmic Calendar. If the history of the universe as we know it began on January 1, and each day of the year represented 40 million of the 15 billion years on the calendar, the history of every person we've ever heard of fits into the last seconds of the last minute of 31 December.

May: formation of the Milky Way galaxy
September: Sun and Earth appear
31 December 10:30 pm: debut of humans
11:59:20 pm: domestication of plants and animals
11:59:35 pm: first cities appear

No matter what you believe about Creation or how long we've been around, no one can dispute that "A son of man is like the grass in its days and like a flower of the field so he springs up. For when the wind has blown upon it, it is not, neither is his place known..." and
"To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more..."

Love this little pictorial perspective. And since I can't pass up a moment for a nice apt C.S. Lewis quotation (this from The Magician's Nephew), here goes:

“Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could possibly count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars. They didn’t come out gently one by one, as they do on a summer evening. One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out – single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world. There were no clouds. The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time. If you had seen and heard it, as Digory did, you would have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves which were singing, and that it was the First Voice, the deep one, which had made them appear and made them sing.”

Happy 75th Birthday to The Hobbit

Glad those two were friends.

Is there any response?

O dear Lord, what can I say to you on this holy night? Is there any word that could come from my mouth, any thought, any sentence? You died for me, you gave all for my sins, you not only became human for me but also suffered the most cruel death for me. Is there any response? I wish that I could find a fitting response, but in contemplating your Holy Passion and Death I can only confess humbly to you that the immensity of your divine love makes any response seem totally inadequate.

Let me just stand and look at you. Your body is broken, your head wounded, your hands and feet are split open by nails, your side is pierced. Your dead body now rests in the arms of your Mother. It is all over now. It is finished. It is fulfilled. It is accomplished.

Sweet Lord, gracious Lord, generous Lord, forgiving Lord, I adore you, I praise you, I thank you. You have made all things new through your passion and death. Your cross has been planted in this world as the new sign of hope.

Let me always live under your cross, O Lord, and proclaim the hope of your cross unceasingly. 

Amen.

—  a Good Friday reflection by Henri Nouwen, in A Cry For Mercy.

Good Friday

by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)


Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
     That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood's slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
     Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
     Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
     Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon—
     I, only I.

Yet give not o'er,
     But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
     And smite a rock.

Autumn arrives.

Happy Autumnal Equinox, everyone. For the Northern Hemispherites, anyhow. Much love to the Southern-ites as their Spring begins!

Fall begins. The autumnal equinox is defined as the point at which the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south. The celestial equator is the circle in the celestial sphere halfway between the celestial poles. It can be thought of as the plane of Earth's equator projected out onto the sphere. Another definition of fall is nights of below-freezing temperatures combined with days of temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The word equinox means "equal night"; night and day are the same length of time. The spring equinox is in late March. In addition to the equal hours of daylight and darkness, the equinoxes are times when the Sun's apparent motion undergoes the most rapid change. Around the time of the equinoxes, variations in the position on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets can be noticed from one day to the next by alert observers.

 Photo credit.

Springy.

Thoughts from Lewis.

"Now as myth transcends thought," says Lewis, "Incarnation transcends myth. The heart of Christianity is a myth which is also a fact. The old myth of the Dying God, without ceasing to be myth, comes down from the heaven of legend and imagination to the earth of history. It happens -- at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. We pass from a Balder or an Osiris, dying nobody knows when or where, to a historical Person crucified (it is all in order) under Pontius Pilate. By becoming fact it does not cease to be myth: that is the miracle."





"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important."


Thoughts from C.S. Lewis as Good Friday approaches...

Aperio!

First, daffodils and jonquils (last week.)

This week, redbuds, forsythia, weeping willows, and that freaky tree next door that never has leaves but right around the equinox bursts into hot pink and white flowers. Amazing!

Come on, Spring, in all your glorious vernality! There's a word that won't show up for Scrabble, although I need one to express all of the sproinging colorfulness that is about to be upon us. I bet Latin has one, but English is failing me.

Happy, happy Vernal Equinox. Blessed be this time that no one can suppress, no power can hold back, no created thing stop its forward progress. It's absolutely no coincidence that Easter was placed in this time of year.

Good Friday is on the way

Februaric odes.

There's some good stuff here
though this month is drear
I'd love to feel my feet
I've had enough of sleet
Let March come blasting in
and may February end.

Amen.



Ode to February

O Mists and damps,
O low hung clouds 

That cloak the days in gauzy veils
And leech our bloom to colours pale; 

Gather round me like soulless shrouds
To stifle my heart’s hopeful beat 

With endless hours of icy sleet.

Hyperion, felled Fount of Light, 

Has long since fled fayre Albion, 

Long lost without day’s Campion, 

Nor one to guide her through the night 

That swiftly fall upon my door, 

A silent wave that inks the shore.

O murk and gloom,
O mood of pitch 

Canst thou open my clenched fist, 

That sombre mill wherein we’re grist?
Must our smothered joy make thee rich?
I flee before thy vap’rous breath
That seeks to choke me unto death.

—Steven "Prometheus" Hoey



Oh, February, oh February,
you're sweeter still than dental caries.

You make my heart sing, you do,
were it not for blinding blizzards and the swiniest of flu.

Oh, February, far too short the days
to count the shades of grayest grays

you send me, year after weary year.
If I were you, I'd watch my back, dear;

such nuanced love cannot last
before I exchange you for something less overcast.

Oh, February, love is patient, love is kind;
love doesn't leave you disinclined

to climb from underneath the warmest covers
to join the bitterest, iciest, and brutalist of lovers

on the barren street, no less! to watch how much snow
you can blow and blow and blow---some beau

you are. But how can I call it quits
when you bite my cheeks and grab my wrists

kissing color into my frozen face---
Oh, February, let's March on apace!

—Sara Lewis Holmes

Smelling sunshine.

Trying to capture sunshine is fruitless when one doesn't know how to manually operate a camera. I wish you could smell the incense-laden sunbeams. I can't seem to put it away after Christmas. So, Happy Epiphany, then. Here's a snippet from the link:

Epiphany is the climax of the Advent/Christmas Season and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which are usually counted from the evening of December 25th until the morning of January 6th, which is the Twelfth Day. In following this older custom of counting the days beginning at sundown, the evening of January 5th is the Twelfth Night. This is an occasion for feasting in some cultures, including the baking of a special King's Cake as part of the festivities of Epiphany (a King's Cake is part of the observance of Mardi Grasin French Catholic culture of the Southern USA). In some church traditions, only the full days are counted so that January 5th is the Eleventh Day of Christmas, January 6th is the Twelfth Day, and the evening of January 6th is counted as the Twelfth Night.

A manifestation. Kind of like a sunbeam but infinitely more real, and without the dirty windows.


Here's another little home I love, far away on the West Coast, with an eerily similar theme! Thanks, Kerri, for sharing!

Happy bday.

Happy birthday to my favorite twin! Here's what we can expect on our full moon, deep into Cancer, hot July day:

According to most Sun-sign guides, Cancers are famous for one thing: their love of home and family.

Well, I'm not a big believer in horoscopes but that one's true.

The one trait that's not usually mentioned under Cancer's list of qualities, however, is the one that's the most important to them: privacy. Their symbol is the crab, after all, which is so fond of privacy that she carries a shell on her back to retreat into at any time.

Well, what a fun mascot to be. I always felt we and the Scorpios got ripped off.

As parents, they offer an endless supply of nurturing -- even if it's aimed toward animals, plants or other people's kids. They have a knack for taking good care of anyone or anything that needs them. Cancers make the world a better, kinder place!

Aw, that's just somebody trying to make up for the fact that we are crabs with a name like "Cancer". Ugh.

It's been almost 10 years since I've spent my birthday with my identical twin, and that just makes me sad. So we are making up for it by wearing out our endless member-to-member cell plan. Don't be surprised if AT&T cans it due to our overuse. I don't care!

Still have a lot to be thankful for (see last post). Not the least a deluxe cake made for me by my dear husband, as he most always does. I wish I could share it with my twin but we'll just have to make up for it some other birthday. So, Happy Birthday, my monozygote! I love ye!


And here's some more (strangely accurate!) little silliness about Cancers.

Cancer
June 22 - July 22 Cancerians are ruled by the Moon, the Great Mother of the heavens in ancient times. Here on Earth, this is manifested in the Crab's maternal instincts and desire to protect home and hearth. This may appear smothering at times, but that's the Crab for you. The Moon is associated with fertility, too, a quality which is most pleasing to Cancerians. The Moon is also the ruler of moods, and Cancers have plenty of those. These folks can cry you a river if they're so inclined, and they usually are. They can be overly sensitive, easily hurt and prone to brooding. Even so, Crabs find it easy to be sympathetic to others and are quick to show their affection. Their intuition is also a great help to them, especially in times of stress.

The Element associated with Cancer is Water. Like the rolling waves of the sea, the Crab's emotions can make quite a splash. These folks tend to pick up on things and bring them in, with the outward result ranging from sentimentality to possessiveness. Crabs need to resist the temptation to become selfish or to feel sorry for themselves, since this behavior won't help. On the bright side, Cancers are good with money (although some consider them too thrifty), probably because they value a sense of security. Crabs are also quick to help others and tend to avoid confrontation. In keeping with their nurturing bent, those born under this Sign are a whiz with food. A hearty picnic in the park is heaven on earth to most Crabs.

Confidential to Leslie.

Did you know that the word "solstice" comes from the Latin sol, for sun, and stitium, for to stop?

I think in your case you can apply it and make it mean "daughter-stop". As in, stop whatever you're doing on the solstice and just do whatever the heck you want.

Save that first option for me.

For Elaine, the constant gardener.

via The Farmers' Almanac.

Transplanting
May is the biggest transplanting month. A seedling’s move to the outdoors can be traumatic. Here are some tips to minimize transplant shock:

• Be sure the plants “harden off.” During plants’ last week indoors, lower temperatures a bit, withhold fertilizer, and water less often.

• For the last 7 to 10 days, bring seedlings outdoors for increasing periods each day, first placing them in dappled shade, protected from winds, and then gradually moving them into full sun and wind.

Do not leave seedlings outside if there is danger of frost. See frost-free dates for your area.

• When buying plants at a nursery, choose stocky plants with deep-green foliage, roughly as wide as they are tall.

• Ideally, the seedlings that you grow or buy are in individual containers so that you do not disturb the roots of neighboring seedlings when you remove each plant.

Read more tips on transplanting your seedlings.

For planting by the Moon dates, see our 2009 Outdoor Planting Table.

Holy Week: Easter Day

Holy Week: Holy Saturday

Holy Week: Good Friday

Holy Week: Maundy Thursday

Holy Week: Wednesday

Holy Week: Tuesday