Public Posts

I've walked the,
dark and nasty trail,
in this so crazy life,
I cannot reveal,

what a mess to me,
to be where I'm not free.
Not to be a whining one,
for I see what I see.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Chicago, in a way, is like a modern Stonehenge. The way is east to west, and the time is today. Today, and every equinox, the Sun will set exactly to the west, everywhere on Earth. Therefore, today in Chicago, the Sun will set directly down the long equatorially-aligned grid of streets and buildings, an event dubbed #chicagohenge. Featured here is a Chicago Henge picture taken during the equinox in mid-September of 2017 looking along part of Upper Wacker Drive. Many cities, though, have streets or other features that are well-aligned to Earth's spin axis. Therefore, quite possibly, your favorite street may also run east - west. Tonight at sunset, with a quick glance, you can actually find out.

Photo by Anthony Artese

The angle Earth’s axis is tilted with respect to Earth’s orbital plane is known as obliquity and it significantly influences earth's climate, its weather patterns, and the natural rhythms of life. The Earth’s axis is currently tilted 23.4 degrees, or about half way between its extremes, and this angle is very slowly decreasing in a cycle that spans about 41,000 years.
Obliquity is why Earth has seasons. Over the last million years, it has varied between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees with respect to Earth’s orbital plane. More at NASA  

If I say,
I love you,
would you run away,
or would you do,

what I asked for
and please stay?
I need someone
for me to say,

please talk to me now,
before I go away.
My biggest fear is,
though I would like to stay,

is being alone,
on that day,
when God calls to me,
and takes me away.

There are only two moments each year when the Sun lies directly above Earth’s equator. These moments are the equinoxes, when, at any location, the lengths of day and night are roughly equal. The March equinox happens sometime between March 19 and 21. The September equinox occurs sometime between September 21 and 24.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox marks the beginning of Spring and the September equinox the beginning of Fall. The reverse takes place in the Southern Hemisphere.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The defining astronomical moment of this September's equinox is at 12:44 UTC on September 22, when the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving south in its yearly journey through planet Earth's sky. That marks the beginning of fall for our fair planet in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere, when day and night are nearly equal around the globe. Of course, if you celebrate the astronomical change of seasons by watching a sunrise you can also look for crepuscular rays. Outlined by shadows cast by clouds, crepuscular rays can have a dramatic appearance in the twilight sky during any sunrise (or sunset). Due to perspective, the parallel cloud shadows will seem to point back to the rising Sun and a place due east on your horizon on the equinox date. But in this spectacular sunrise skyscape captured in early June, the parallel shadows and crepuscular rays appear to converge toward an eastern horizon's more northerly sunrise. The well-composed photo places the rising Sun just behind the bell tower of a church in the town of Vic, province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Photo by Emili Vilamala

On September 18, 2024, 124 of the 181 member states voted in favor of the measure. The United States, alongside 13 other nations, voted against the resolution, that sets a 12-month time frame to end Israel’s "illegal occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza".  More at The Intercept➜

"If you’ve ever attended one of the free lectures at the Elger Bay Institute of Aesthetic Enlargement, you know that continuing education flourishes on the erudite South End. For those of you who have cable TV, you probably feel like you don’t need to take advantage of the Institute’s seminars, tutorials and lectures offered to the public, not when you can get every episode of every series made since Milton Berle brought enlightenment to America through the magic of television"..... More at The Skeeter Daddle Diaries ➜

When everyday objects,
begin to fall off the wall,
will that be enough,
will that be all,

or is it a prelude of,
what happens soon,
as we cover our fate,
with a perpetual gloom?

There may never be,
a chance like this,
where we seal it with a handshake
and a small,
sweet kiss.

the break of Dawn,
of thee I sing,
hearing the melody,
which you bring.

The sound of Gulls,
the crashing of a wave,
makes me feel alive
and feeling brave.

Brave to walk into,
the surf on bare feet,
longing for shoes,
and a hot chocolate treat.