Thursday, December 31, 2020
2020 - Started So Well...
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Border To Border Storm & Death
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Cool High Pressure Here, Croatia Shaky!!
Monday, December 28, 2020
January 2021 - On & Off Earth
The standard posting on a day I spend finishing the column. Where were you on Y2K? If you don't know, you're likely a kid..
Quite a few quakes today, 6.7 off Chile'; no tsunami reports. Chilly start here but has made in to the 50's - woooooo!
January 2021 - On & Off Earth
Amidst the viral and other mania of 2020, it was only recently that another time of worldwide mania came to mind: Y2K. If you remember where you were 21 years ago, and it was at a party, children born after that day are becoming legal to buy adult beverages this year..and they have no concept of a time before the internet or cell phones and consider those of us at those Y2K parties, old.
I have two new cousins, baby boys born in this wildest of years; I wonder and worry about the world they will grow into. What will the legacy of 2020 be 21 years hence? Earth and time will tell, moving ever onward!!
At some point in January, toward the middle of the month, you’re going to realize it’s 6:00pm and it’s still somewhat light outside; the planet tilting sunward again, days growing ever so slightly longer. Bundle up and get out for a stroll to enjoy the extra light and then linger into twilight, catching the bright stars of winter as they “turn on” and become visible.
While there is a little more sunlight every day, sunrises are still very late coming; the latest for the year is actually on the 4th (earliest sunset was back on December 7th, see me in person for the crazy explanation why those events don’t occur at the solstice).
Only Mars remains in the evening sky as the great planet show of 2020 winds down quickly into the new year. Jupiter and Saturn continue to sink lower and set earlier each night as Earth speeds away from the two Gas Giant, leaving them directly behind the sun and out of sight by month’s end. Venus continues to beam brightly as the Morning Star for early risers.
The first quarter moon slides below Mars on the 20th and 21st. Without leaves on the trees, the Full Wolf Moon on the 28th will seem much brighter than full moons in warmer seasons; winter full moonlight walks are a delight, any snow cover a bonus.
Earth reaches perihelion early on January 2nd, our closest to the sun for the entire year. Closer to the sun means we travel faster through space and why winter, although it may not feel like it, is the shortest season. Another reminder, it’s our tilt not our solar distance driving Earth’s seasonal changes.
Earth’s tilted axis also wobbles, shifting “traditional” zodiacal dates about a month from when established in ancient times. The sun is well into Sagittarius to kick off January, moving into Capricorn on the 20th.
This past Sunday I noticed something seldom seen this year, the sky crisscrossed with contrails. Condensation trails, high in the atmosphere, from jet exhaust carrying people home from Christmas gatherings. In a more normal year, a normal sight, but this year, likely continuing the spread of a virus we should have, could have, but still have not controlled.
Yet, amazing scientific advances have produced Covid19 vaccines in record time. Let’s roll up our sleeves America and get vaccinated, while still keeping our distances and our faces covered, and get this killer under control, moving our country and world toward safer and more normal days in 2021.
Randy Holladay
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Bringing TrumpVirus Home!!
Chilly Sunshine Rolls On..
Saturday, December 26, 2020
A Frigid Boxing Day
Friday, December 25, 2020
Have a Happy Holladay!!
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Xmas Eve: Oh, Pardon Me..
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Blizzard North, Rain South..
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Winter, Feeling Like Fall
Monday, December 21, 2020
Solstice Conjunction & Eruption!!
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Cold & Yucky; No Sky View!!
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Hazy Holiday Saturday
Friday, December 18, 2020
A Light Dusting..
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Lovely Ice Storm Aftermath..A Mess..
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
A Nasty Cold Rain..
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
A Lull Between Storms
Monday, December 14, 2020
Blame The Rain!
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Geminid Meteors, Lonely Solar Eclipse, TrumpVirus Death!
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Warm With Clouds & TrumpVirus Death..
Friday, December 11, 2020
Safe At Home This Xmas
I’LL BE HOME FOR XMAS
2020
I’ll be home for Christmas
Like I’ve been all year
But, got a chance, to ski in France
Before shut down by viral fear
Christmas eve will find me
Retired and doin’ the hunker
Daily wanders with the Breyer D
Cozy in our little tire bunker
I’ll be home for Christmas
Where am I gonna go
Visit folks next door, run to the store
Or carry-out from Obrigado
Hope Christmas Eve will find you
Home and safe with your family
Dreamin’ of change, a vaccine, too
In 2021; we’ll just wait and see:)
We’ll be home for Christmas
But, planning, where we might be
Maybe we’ll roam, to your home
Your face so nice to see
Be safe at home for Christmas
Working on those dreams…
Randy & Breyer
It's lovely today
Get out and play
Safely
Today On Earth