Five Planets in Alignment ~ Already In a Sky Near You!

Starting yesterday and happening until around February 20th, 5 planets will be in alignment and visible to the naked eye in the pre-dawn hours of the morning. Here's EarthSky's information on this event. 

You'll have to get up a little earlier than today's morning shot at 6:27 a.m.

This event isn't terrifically rare, but rare enough. "Alan Duffy from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, told Australian Geographic that the alignment is "essentially a quirk" of the universe. "There are only a few amazing things in the night sky that can be seen without any equipment." "

I like certain quirks, especially of the celestial sort. In 1982 there was an alignment of the nine planets. I took my daughter Sarah to the beach, having heard we could lose gravity momentarily (remember The Jupiter Effect?). Of course, I didn't want not to quite believe it but taking my six year old to the beach in the wee dark hours of the morning to look at the sky and maybe, just maybe lose gravity even for a second seemed like a great idea. We didn't lose gravity but we did have a good adventure (any time you can wake your little kids up and steal off into the night to do something fun is a good time).

This is a great article about the origins of the 'losing gravity' theory, as well as more information about the Jupiter Effect. 

Illustration from the Redlands Daily Facts (Jan 16, 1975)

Ah well, it's all fun and games until someone believes everything they read!

Our skies have been pretty clear in the early hours, so if you can get yourself out of your cozy bed, check it out.

Have an oh wonder! Wednesday. Do something watchfully.

Tiny Home Tuesday ~ So Long!

Some things stay and some things go. Sometimes, it's time to go.

Because I've been realizing for awhile that there is, these days, a plethora of tiny home / small home sites (unlike not so long ago when if you looked for tiny homes you came up with playhouses for kids or garden sheds), I'm going to drop the Tiny Home Tuesday postings. Which I've sort of already done, but this time it's formal! 

Unless I see some place so extraordinary or just plain brilliant or beautiful. Then I'll post it like I used to do, without a special day for it. If you run across something you want to share from your part of the globe, send it in; I'd love to see it and share it too.

The moon is neither tiny nor home-like but it draws me just the same.

But if you need one more hit, here are some different tiny homes. Some I like, some not so much but different tastes are a good thing; sometimes we get to be surprised by learning to like something out of our normal realms and oh joy! at that.

Have a turnaround Tuesday. Do something tolerantly. 

Some of This and That and Martin Luther King Jr. Too

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He gave us so many excellent quotes, almost all of them that are well known today having to do with accepting one another for what we live and example in our lives rather than the shell our souls and beings happen to be carried around in. Strong words of exhortation that are as valid, or even more so, today as when he said them. But fear (which is what most hatred is based on) of differentness has been going on since the beginnings of humanity, no matter what your belief system says about when that started. Be on the other side of the coin, the side of love. It's a life-long journey; keep your thumb out - occasionally someone will stop and help you along the way so that you are reminded to return the favor when you can.

And therein lies sanity.

Yesterday was gloriously beautiful around these parts. The water in the bay got stripier and stripier (technical jargon for stripey) as some interesting boats came in and out.

One very interesting boat!

Because I was on a steel boat when I wrecked my arm taking care of rust, I can't help but see the rust here. But it looks like it would be a great boat to go exploring...well, just about anything, anywhere there's water.

Pretty darn sleek, whether you like this sort of thing or not.

Then I was looking a little more and realized we have these two boats, on opposite sides of the bay. I didn't realize there were two of them. Even though I see them so often, somehow they were, in my head, one boat. 

Obviously they are not the same but sometimes I don't see what I am looking at. Case in point above.

See? Stripey.

The following has nothing to do with the sea. This is Kobie, my daughter and her kids dog, and it was his birthday. This photo was so perfectly him, I have to share it.

Happy birthday, Kobie (affectionately known as The Alien)

Have a migrating Monday. Do something moveable.