Last night, the waxing gibbous moon, just a few days from full, rose red over my town and stayed rusty all night. There is no eclipse on a gibbous moon. We had no weather to speak of. There is no healthy reason for a red moon over Vermont. The reason is terrifying. My town, many… Continue reading The Daily: 16 August 2024
The Daily: 15 August 2024
The Feast of the Assumption It is the Feast of the Assumption. In the Church calendar, this is the day Mother Mary was taken bodily up to heaven without the inconvenience of dying first. But in the older calendar of Europe, this was the time when it was recognized that the heat of summer was… Continue reading The Daily: 15 August 2024
The Daily: 14 August 2024
Things to look forward to... a full moon I did my graduate work amid people who studied bits of foreign places like comets, exploded planets, asteroids, and moons. I have held pieces of our satellite moon in my hand and looked at the structure of its minerals through powerful lenses. My own work was focused… Continue reading The Daily: 14 August 2024
The Daily: 7 August, Epilogue
So... I said I would have a real stroke when the emergency room bill came in... Well, it arrived today. I vastly underestimated it. I almost vomited. It was so outrageous I had to share... because I'm not the only one... The grand total was about $13,000... to tell me I had heat stroke. Which… Continue reading The Daily: 7 August, Epilogue
The Daily: 13 August 2024
This is just a short complaint. If you're in a good mood, stop reading. For several weeks now, my whole state has been dealing with advanced externalities. A couple towns might just be wiped off the map after this. My town has a sandbag budget now, along with constant employment for anyone who can drive… Continue reading The Daily: 13 August 2024
The Daily: 12 August 2024
I don't think lilacs like this weather. All the bushes around my house and on my neighbor's property (though leaning over into my yard) have leaves that are curling and turning brown. The grass underneath the bushes is covered in brittle leaves. Walking through the yard sounds like autumn. It is hard to tell from… Continue reading The Daily: 12 August 2024
The Daily: 9 August 2024
The former facilities manager of my small Vermont bank had a bad 2023. When I met him, he had only just been promoted to this position, which was a job he did not seem to enjoy or even do well. He was an excellent handyman. He was not at all suited to managing other handy-people,… Continue reading The Daily: 9 August 2024
The Daily: 7 August 2024
Things to look forward to... a drink of water About a month ago, in fact, the weekend before the second flooding, it was hot. Of course it was hot. And very humid. Of course that too. That's what we get these days. Hot and humid. For days and days and days and no relief even… Continue reading The Daily: 7 August 2024
The Daily: 6 August 2024
My co-workers are sports enthusiasts. One doesn't seem to understand that I don't have "a team" for every season. (Or, as is the case, any season.) Another talks golf. All day, every day. Except right now. Right now they're all talking Olympics. I just don't get it. I don't get watching sports on screens, or… Continue reading The Daily: 6 August 2024
The Daily: 5 August 2024
The Hay Moon went dark at 7:13am yesterday, over 36 hours before moonset today. So the 10th new moon of my year, the Blueberry Moon, should be visible as a thin crescent following the sun down to the western horizon this evening. This month is the second of the harvest moons and the first that… Continue reading The Daily: 5 August 2024
