Goodnight, Moon

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“The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.”

~ Tahereh Mafi

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

Isn't that an amazing photo?! I can hardly believe our new camera took it. The zoom on this thing could be compared to a small telescope. I've even seen photos where you can capture a fuzzy Jupiter on this beautiful baby.

I love this camera. L-o-v-e it! It's like having a fourth pet. I swear I'm going to christen it with a name. (And why-ever not? If men can name their cars, surely it's perfectly normal to name a little camera. Right? )

I think I'm leaning towards naming it something elegant, like Juliet or Lady Guinevere.
Perhaps even something homey and Disney-ish like Katie Nana...Aunt Polly... Nana Darling. Or maybe something that's still Disney, but is just a little bit campy and fun.... Madame Leota?

If I had named my last camera, a fitting name would have been Dumbo.

Here are two more pics that I took:


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I would love to take video next.

I was so excited over these photos that I decided to flip the 'On' switch to my Inner Geek-dom and do a little research on our silvery Orb 'O Night... just for fun.


Okay, so that's a half-truth. I was also looking for a distraction to help tide me over in my Outlander Saturday Countdown. That last episode was packed with kilted testosterone, even though Jamie didn't appear in it for more than a few minutes.



Which I guess isn't too traumatic, considering I have every episode on the dvr and next to each title I've added that wonderful 'Protect' icon. (Sort of like Linus's comforting blanket). If I can't brand the Scottish hero as my own in real life, at least I can keep him for myself within the confines of my television set.

That sort of makes him sound like a genie in a magic lamp, only instead it's a sword wielding Highlander from the 1700's with beautiful knees. And a Highlander sprung from romance novels runs circles around wish granting genies.

>

Ye ken?

Sorry. I'll just circle back to the original purpose of this post, aye?

Must focus, must focus, must focus....






(Artwork: "Sprinkling Stars" by Amelia Jane Murray, 1820)

- The first man to make proper maps of the moon was Galileo. Galileo did not invent the telescope, but by 1609 he had developed a telescope that could magnify objects to 20 times. With this telescope he began his careful study of the Moon’s surface.

- The dark side of the moon is a myth. In reality, both sides of the Moon see the same amount of sunlight but only one face of the Moon is ever seen from Earth. This is because the Moon rotates around on its own axis in exactly the same time it takes to orbit the Earth, meaning the same side is always facing the Earth. The side we see is lit by reflected sunlight, while the side facing away from Earth lies in darkness and has only been seen by the human eye from a spacecraft.

- If you look at the Moon when it is nearly full, you can see the dark areas which are known as the seas. (They are all given Latin names, such as Mare Serenitatis – the Sea of Serenity, or Mare Frigoris – the Sea of Cold). These are not really seas, but are huge expanses of smooth dark lava.

- The Moon is the fifth largest natural satellite in the Solar System.

- The Moon was probably made 4.5 billion years ago when a large object hit the Earth and blasted out rocks that came together to orbit round the Earth. They eventually melted together, cooled down and became the Moon. For another 500 million years pieces of rock kept striking against the surface of the Moon.

- The Moon will be visited by man in the near future. NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon to set up a permanent space station. Mankind may once again walk on the moon in 2019, if all goes according to plan.


(Via)

- The moon's orbit around Earth is elliptical. At perigee — its closest approach — the moon comes as close as 225,623 miles. At apogee — the farthest away it gets — the moon is 252,088 miles from Earth. On average, the distance from Earth to the moon is about 238,855 miles. However, the moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of about 1.5 inches (4 cm) per year.

- The average distance from the Moon to the Earth is 238,857 miles.

- The far side of the Moon looks quite different due to its lack of maria (ancient pools of solidified lava).

- The Moon is very hot during the day but very cold at night. The average surface temperature of the Moon is 107 degrees Celsius during the day, and -153 degrees Celsius at night.

- The Moon has no atmosphere, and so we can still see the damage caused billions of years ago.

- A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon.

- The Moon rotates on its axis in around the same length of time it takes to orbit the Earth. This means that from Earth we only ever see around 60% of its surface (50% at any one time).

- Mons Huygens is the tallest mountain on the Moon. It is 4700 meters tall, just over half the height of Mt Everest (8848m).


My mother and I were just out at the barn, doing some measuring for the new buildings, when we saw this awesome guy.

He's a Texas Spiny Lizard, and is about 8 inches long. We named him Oscar.


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I would have loved to have gotten better photos of him, but he was giving me the stink eye the entire time so I had to zoom in. I'm thinking Oscar likes his space. I'm hoping he'll learn to trust me so that I can get even closer. My father says he's in the barn all the time, so I should run into him again.

What can I say? While some folks have barn cats, we have barn lizards.


Random Pics:
The hummingbird pics aren't nearly as great as the one's from my last post.
I took these through the window.


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Izzy says Hello....


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Maddie says Hello, too....




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Abby appears to be doing better! The swelling beneath her eye is almost completely gone. I'm guessing she had an allergic reaction to an insect bite.

So, her doing better is good news but... on Saturday we take all 3 of the girls in to Tractor Supply for their shots. (I think we're going to take the little one's first, and then Maddie another weekend).

I am NOT looking forward to it at all. I really hope they won't get sick over this, and that we'll be first in line. It had better go by fast. I hate stressing over them being stressed!

Thank Goodness I never had children. I'd have been a basket case, wanting to protect them from the Big Bad Wolf all the time.

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