An absolutely Full Moon event...leading to Spring!

I'm not saying I blame everything on the moon, but I am thinking about blaming it for the fact that all my plans went awry in the most wonderful directions yesterday and last night. It was a fine path from Dinghy Dock to the Sandbar, to Bahia Marina to Dingy Dock and the Sandbar. Yes, one of those nights, but without being stupid. Silly, yes. Stupid, no (stupid is a story my brother just told me. He was driving down A1A - Florida - this morning on his way to go kayaking, when he had to go around a car that had obviously rolled out of the owner's driveway and was sitting in the middle of A1A...that's stupid, just so you know the difference).

I think the small plate of fried pork I had at Dinghy Dock helped. Yes, fried pork. Mike had ordered some and gave me a taste and...sometimes you just have to say yes to fried pork. I'm glad I did!

We headed to Bahia Marina thinking the view of the moon rise might be good there. But it was actually on the way there that La Luna came over the hills. I saw about 1/4 of it and we stopped to get a photo...by the time I got around the car, it had already cleared the horizon! Super Fast Super Moon!

Ok, I'll just get this out of the way right now. I didn't think the moon looked any bigger than any other wonderfully full moon. In fact, I agreed with Francie that the moon in January looked bigger. But it was still very bright and very beautiful.

After a good time at the Shipwreck bar, harassing and being harassed by Kevin, we headed back toward town. To go home? Noooooooooooooooo.  We did stop on the way though, to see the moon on the water (there was no moon to see at Bahia; it was hiding behind a hill)

The moon was so bright, I just went for the clouds and water....

Dinghy Dock was still open! The Sandbar called! We answered. As many already know (and if you don't know, you will now) Juanita Bananas is now operating out of what is now (this week) called the Sandbar, under Hotel Kokomo. Being a sushi lover but also being one with shallow pockets, I rarely indulge in what is my favorite food in the world. But last night I could not and did not resist when I saw that Jennifer had escolar (called white tuna, isn't tuna, a lesson for another day). I'm a pretty simple sushi/sashimi eater and tuna is my favorite fish. But I put escolar right up there with it. It is just so rich, you can't eat much of it. So with a beautiful plate livened with slender slices of lemon...it was escolar heaven for awhile there. The last time I had it (if you can find it, not always easy) was in the states and this was just as perfectly delectable as I remembered. Thanks, Jennifer!

All in all, a fun afternoon and evening, spent with friends and a Super Moon. Some days and nights just happen like that here on Culebra. We are so lucky! It was also great to spend some time with Dick and Joyce before they take off early this week. I'll miss Dick askng me if this is the way to FaJardo as he putt putts by in his Model A...love you, guy!

Which brings us to today...the vernal equinox! What is the vernal equinox? The simple answer is, it is the beginning of Spring (or...autumn if you live in the southern hemisphere, but I don't, so it's all about Spring to me)! Renewal, birth, rebirth. The irresistible calling of Nature, waking up her slumbering flora and fauna from winter (where there is that sort of winter). Wake up! Gosh, you look beautiful! Let's make some more of us! Like that. The more complex answer you can find here.

Leave it to the pagans and Christians to get the holidays all wacky, but you can rest assured that from all things wild and pagan, the Christians got to work and took as their own. The Goddess Ostara is no exception. The first drawing shows her being worshipped...the second, not so much. But she does look rather familiar, doesn't she.....


(left side) Ostara (1884) by Johannes Gehrts. The goddess flies through the heavens surrounded by Roman-inspired putti, beams of light, and animals. Germanic people look up at the goddess from the realm below.

(right side) Eástre (1909) by Jacques Reich. Directly derived from Gehrts' image (above), with the Germanic worshipers replaced by a picturesque landscape. - souce: Wikipedia

Another season behind us. Another begins now. Join in the dance!

Have a Springy Sunday! Do something sprightly.

Super Moon! Bigger, Better Than Evah! plus

–Of course, because I try to write a trendy, what's happenin' now sort of blog, you will soon know more about the Super Moon - coming to a sky near you tonight -than you really wanted to know. Or not. We'll see what turns up here (if you can't wait, here is a starter article with some fun in it).

But while you are waiting, I have a small confession to make. I might have made it here before. I might have even said it to someone reading this. (You know how you hope if you confess something, you might stop doing it? You don't know? Ok, never mind.)
Here it is. I am a paper towel slut. Oh, I am not as bad as I used to be, but a day without paper towels around me is a day I'm just missing something in my world. Sure, I have tea towels, and wash rags and even a few cloth napkins around. I could live without paper towels...maybe. But...why? there are so many kinds of paper towels! Right now, I've got some that I found at Genesis. They are about as close to cloth as a paper towel can be. I almost have to scissor them at the perforated edge, that's how good they are. It is like a little moment of excitement every time I tear one off, they are that good. But they eventually get tossed, in favor of a cleaner, brighter, drier  one (I mean, it's not like I think of each one personally, I'm not inSANE!). It is a guilty, wasteful pleasure, that's the whole thing. Yes, I know. I'm a wild woman. Don't forget it.  

So you can only imagine my extremely cautious sense of curiousity when I got this email from a friend of mine who probably went out and bought a case of coffee filters right away. This guy probably washed his own diapers, I've never asked because I don't want to know. I mean, he was the first person I knew who re-used baggies, many years ago. Yes, I have friends like this (well, I did, before I just wrote the preceding). So naturally, it was him who sent me this. So much of it is in the 'good idea' category, I had to honor whoever took the time to make this list (they must have as crazy and wild a life as me).

Better than paper towels and a lot less expensive...

Coffee  filters ..... Who knew!   And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing, even the large ones.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the  microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome...  Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling. ( sparkling)

3.  Protect China by separating your good dishes with a  coffee filter between each dish. (I did not capitalize China. I wish we could protect China with a coffee filter. I wish we could protect ourselves from China with a coffee filter. However, they don't make them that big. Sorry)

4.  Filter broken cork from wine.  If you break the cork when opening a wine  bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.  (I mean, is this a great idea or what???)
 
5.  Protect a cast-iron skillet.  Place a coffee filterin the  skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust. (can also be used to spread around that bit of oil while drying the skillet on the stove, wow! I am totally impressed...and easily, I might add)

6.  Apply shoe polish.  Ball up a lint-free coffee filter. (I'm sorry if you have to use shoe polish, but if you must wear those sorts of shoes, please do keep them polished!)

7.  Recycle frying oil.  After frying, strain oil through a sieve  lined with a coffee filter.  (wonder if that works with bacon grease? But why? Sounds sort of disgusting to me; isn't once enough?)

8.  Weigh chopped foods.  Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a  kitchen scale.

9.  Hold tacos.  Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10.  Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot.  Line a plant  pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through  the drainage holes.  (this is a good one. I tend to use sea grape leaves myself but they aren't always handy)

11.  Prevent a Popsicle from dripping.  Poke one or two holes as  needed in a coffee filter..  (uh, sure)

12.  Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows?  Use  strips of coffee filters..  (this just gives me a smile every time I read it...if it doesn't provoke a few amusing mental images for you, check your pulse)

13.  Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon,  French fries, chicken  fingers, etc on them.  It soaks out all the grease. (ALL the grease? cool! I do like this one)

14.  Keep in the bathroom.  They make great "razor nick  fixers." (I'm sure they also are fine for when the TP runs out but I guess 'razor nick fixers' sounds better)

15.   As a sewing backing.  Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.

16.  Put  baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.

17.  Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in  soups and stews. (I guess you could sort of use them like a cheesecloth bag for your own bouquet garni, huh?)

18.  Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.  (see amusing mental images above)

19.  Use them as a  spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.

20.  Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies..  Saves on having extra bowls to wash.  (hmmmm)

21.  Use them to wrap  Christmas ornaments for storage. (good one)

22.  Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.

23.  Use them to sprout seeds..  Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a  plastic baggie until they sprout. (don't know about needing the plastic baggie - then I'd have to wash IT - but this is one I like)

24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers.  Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in  phone book.. (if you live on Culebra, this is not such a helpful suggestion. You might want to have a friend from NY or Florida send you a phone book)

25.  Use as a disposable "snack bowl" for popcorn, chips, etc.  (one of life's little pleasures being single, I don't have to share my popcorn bowl!)
  
OH YEAH THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKERS TOO.


I hope you feel as enlightened as I did after reading this list. I'm really going to try some of these, but the ultimate question is, how to I hand the little suckers? Thanks, Frank! 


Ok, in the semi-excited state you are now in, it is appropriate to go for Super Moon! First of all, it is Tina's birthday today. On a full moon date. A Super Moon date. I am just explaining this so that if you are looking toward St. Croix tonight and see fireworks or explosions of any sort, you will understand the reason. It is not Hess blowing up. It is Tina and crew, celebrating. Really.

"On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.

"The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look." 

I must say that I love it when scientific journals/writings/people use language that acknowledges their area of study is sometimes outside the dusty, dry realm of numbers and formulas. Whoever wrote the above opening sentence for the Nasa Science News bulletin on the Super Moon, I applaud you. Rare size and beauty indeed. 

And to you, Geoff Chester; I have a feeling your wife might say this is you in trembling excitement mode. But I'd encourage you to pick it up a little. Maybe hang out with whoever wrote that first sentence, toss back a couple, go a little off the beaten track. You know, into the 'Get your ass out of your Lazy Boy and grab your favorite girl, go check out that glorious moon!' mode. I've got your back, Geoff!

There are links above to tell you all you need to know about the science of a Super Moon, so I'm not going to repeat it here. Anyway, I personally prefer the PFM approach to viewing any sort of natural phenomenon. Pure F(or the Children's Sake) Magic. Because...it is.

The very BEST part of moon viewing, and this night in particular, is the rising of the moon. So check out your local info for that. For us, it is supposed to be 6:28 p.m. tonight. Depending on hills and interfering things. I'm hoping to be out on the water someplace for the show, at least try to be where you have some farther horizons. But where ever you are,anywhere on this planet,  that moon is gonna rise, so Be There! 

As the writer of the above article says in closing "The swollen orb rising in the east at sunset may seem so nearby, you can almost reach out and touch it.

Don't bother. Even a super perigee Moon is still 356,577 km away. That is, it turns out, a distance of rare beauty. (the phrase so nice, let's use it twice)

This is a video of the above article. 

Have a Super Moon Saturday! Do something of rare beauty at Sunset!

Happy Birthday, Elijah! Happy Birthday to you!!!

~~~Happy Birthday, Elijah!!!!~~~

I'm not exactly sure how I feel that my youngest child is now 32 years old. My age, right? Strange and wonderful. What I am very sure about is that the man he has become fills my heart with joy, over and over again. 

I love where he lives. I love how he lives. Most of all, I love who he is. I love that we laugh about the same things, gasp at the same wonders, care deeply about the same issues. That we can hang out with each other for days and I don't get the feeling he wants to move me down the road. I love that we love the land and we love the sea. Passionately. And that he can surprise me all of the time. 'You play the mandolin! Well!  You built/painted/created that? Oh wow....'

I love that he lives a life that made it possible for us to cook dinners like this, all from seeds he planted, the long, long rows that he tends, rows that we worked in together (ok, I got the fun and easy part...walking down those long rows of goodies, picking and choosing at my leisure pleasure - I think I weeded 20 minutes one day, he wouldn't let me do more). 

I love how much he loves his dogs. Hey, I love how much he loves me!  I think we're on a par...in different ways. That's not a bad thing (if you happen to be a dog person, you'll get that).

I might be in the center of the photo, but I wasn't on stage alone!

So happy birthday, Lij. I hope, deeply hope, that this is the very best year of your life. And I'm excited to get back out there, out where the land and the sea are so very different from mine, to see you and play again. This time, I'm bringing some of those cool rocks home! And maybe we'll walk some of the Lost Coast...not lost at all.

Love, 

Mom

Have a Fantastic Friday! Do something way big FUN!