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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Yesterday there was a total solar eclipse visible only at the end of the Earth. To capture the unusual phenomenon, airplanes took flight below the clouded seascape of Southern Ocean. The featured image shows one relatively spectacular capture where the bright spot is the outer corona of the Sun and the eclipsing Moon is seen as the dark spot in the center. A wing and engine of the airplane are visible across the left and bottom of the image, while another airplane observing the eclipse is visible on the far left. The dark area of the sky surrounding the eclipsed Sun is called a shadow cone. It is dark because you are looking down a long corridor of air shadowed by the Moon. A careful inspection of the eclipsed Sun will reveal the planet Mercury just to the right. The next total solar eclipse shadow will cross parts of Australia and Indonesia in April of 2023, while the one after that will cross North America in April of 2024. Notable Eclipse Submissions to APOD: Total Solar Eclipse of 2021 December

Photo by Petr HorálekESOPhoto AmbassadorInst. of Physics in Opava

Wayward the wind,
leeward the sea.
I cross the broad ocean,
searching for thee.

Visiting all the islands,
the smallest of isle,
searching them all
for you to beguile.

Over the land masses,
after a great while,
hoping for a glimpse
of your bright smile.

Now here I am,
many years, gone bye,
my search for you, love
with a wandering eye.

"Plastic waste of all shapes and sizes permeates the world’s oceans. It shows up on beaches, in fish and even in Arctic sea ice. And a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine makes clear that the U.S. is a big part of the problem"..."On a per capita basis, the U.S. produces an order of magnitude more plastic waste than China" Read more

It's a quarter past 4,
what should I do?
Get up now?
Go enter some words?
Write from the heart,
avoid being absurd.
Talk about the past
and your love of life.
For all the stories,
stuck in your head,
unless they're in writing,
so they can be read.

Recently, my wife and I joined two other couples for a two-week vacation to see all five of Utah’s national parks. Utahns like to refer to them as “The Mighty Five.” I prefer to call them “a complete waste of time.”
Oh sure, if hiking in stunning, majestic outdoor scenery among 2,000 foot cliffs created 65 million years ago, where once an inland sea covered everything, and climbing up to gaze out on stunning panoramas unlike anything you've ever seen in your life is your cup of tea, then, perhaps you might actually enjoy this experience.
But if you ask me, they don't live up to the hype. The Wi-Fi was non-existent, and good luck finding a Starbucks anywhere along the trail. Read my complete evaluation and decide for yourself.

Never in my life
would I have said,
my life is over,
my feelings are dead.
What kind of God,
does this to thee?
Leaving your sweet self
with a destroyed memory.

I enjoy most sounds which sing.
The tinkling of rain against window pane;
freshets of wind coming in small bursts,
a most pleasant of sounds, unless
your window is open. Blinds rattle,
above my sleepy old head, as I try
to fall asleep in the warm, cozy bed.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In this snapshot from November 18, the Full Moon was not far from Earth's shadow. In skies over Sicily the brightest lunar phase was eclipsed by passing clouds though. The full moonlight was dimmed and momentarily diffracted by small but similar sized water droplets near the edges of the high thin clouds. The resulting iridescence shines with colors like a lunar corona. On that night, the Full Moon was also seen close to the Pleiades star cluster appearing at the lower left of the iridescent cloud bank. The stars of the Seven Sisters were soon to share the sky with a darker, reddened lunar disk.

Photo by Marcella Giulia Pace

Photo shared by Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American

A plethora
of return labels,
with my name and address,
is crowding the space
at workstation and desk.
Send the labels; a nice touch
but fewer people use the mail
and your gift is too much.
If you want more money,
please say you do.
Quit sending the labels
which we seldom use.

Meet me tonight,
in the shade of the tree.
I'll bring the wine,
you bring just thee.

Do you know me?
I once was your son.
You told me to leave,
darken not your door.
Where you once lived
is "Off Limits" to you.
Did you not see,
you are not wanted here.
Just leave this place.
Leave it alone.
Don't bother to write.
All these harsh words,
were never said to me,
as my family's love,
is still strong to say,
"Do the best you can
to overcome your poverty.