OCTOBER 2001

"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own..." Second full moon in a month is called a Blue Moon. This month, let's paint it red. 10/1/2001 - Sukkot begins at sundown 10/2/2001 - Full Moon nearest the equinox, called Harvest Moon. The Zuni people call it the Big Wind Moon. 10/8/2001 - Columbus Day 10/8/2001 - Thanksgiving (Canada) 10/8/2001 - Shemini Atzeret (begins at sundown) 10/16/2001 - New Moon. 10/21/2001 - Orionids meteor shower (thick crescent moon sets late evening). 10/24/2001 - United Nations Day 10/27/2001 - Paint the Moon: A collaborative work of celestial art. First attempt: Saturday, October 27, 2001. The Goal: To unite millions of people in an effort to 'paint' a red spot on the dark portion of a first-quarter moon using common laser pointers during a five-minute period this autumn. 10/28/2001 - Daylight Saving Time ends, 2:00 am, clocks "fall back" an hour. 10/29/2001 - Bank Holiday (Rep. of Ireland) 10/31/2001 - Halloween, a cross-quarter day roughly halfway between the equinox and solstice. 10/31/2001 - Full Moon called the Hunter's Moon.

NOVEMBER 2001

THIS MONTH: Look our for the new state quarter featuring Kentucky. Paint the Moon Look for Venus as the "morning star" through November. Trumpeter & Tundra swans start to return to the Skagit Valley, Washington. Dumb-Ass birding begins. The sky is falling! THE SKY IS FA- no, wait. Leonids. Hm. The sky really IS falling. 11/1/2001 - All Saints' Day. 11/6/2001 - Election Day (US) 11/11/2001 - Veterans Day (US) - Didn't there used to be a law about the bars all being closed on this day? 11/11/2001 - Remembrance Day (Canada) 11/11/2001 - WW I (a.k.a. "The War to End All Wars," but only until the next war) Armistice Day, 1918 (France) 11/15/2001 - New Moon. 11/17-18/2001 - Leonids meteor shower tonight/next morning (good viewing with minimal light from crescent moon) 11/22/2001 - Thanksgiving (US) 11/23/2001 - Turkey leftovers day... time for Teevee Turkey Soup! 11/28-12/3/2001 - Society of Marine Mammology conference, Vancouver, BC 11/29/2001 - Dave McBee turns 46. We think he'll take it lying down. 11/24/2001 - Paint the Moon: A collaborative work of celestial art. Second attempt: Saturday, November 24, 2001. The Goal: To unite millions of people in an effort to 'paint' a red spot on the dark portion of a first-quarter moon using common laser pointers during a five-minute period this autumn. 11/30/2001 - Full Moon, called the Frost Moon. The Kiowa people call it the Geese Going Moon. These are the original lyrics to "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster. The state of Kentucky prudently replaced "darkies" with "people" but even after the semantic cleanup, the people of Kentucky are still gay and rolling on the little cabin floor. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (Of course, wouldn't it have been a lot less trouble to just come up with another song?) My Old Kentucky Home Melody - Stephen C. Foster, 1853 (1825-1864) Oh, the sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home, 'Tis summer, the darkies are gay. The corn top's ripe and the meadows in the bloom, While the birds make music all the day. The young folks roll on the little cabin floor, All merry, all happy and bright: By'n the Hard Times come a knocking at the door. Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight! Chorus: Weep no more, my lady, Oh, weep no more today! We will sing one song for the old Kentucky home, For the old Kentucky home, far away. They hunt no more for the possum and the coon, On the meadow, the hill and the shore, They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon, On the bench by the old cabin door. The day goes by like a shadow o'er the heart, With sorrow, where all was delight: The time has come when the darkies have to part, Then my old Kentucky home, good night! Chorus: The head must bow and the back will have to bend, Wherever the darkey may go: A few more days, and the trouble all will end, In the field where the sugarcanes grow. A few more days for to tote the weary load, No matter, 'twill never be light, A few more days till we totter on the road, Then my old Kentucky home good night! Chorus:

DECEMBER 2001

In 354, the bishop of Rome decreed that December 25th, a pagan feast day in honour of the god, Saturn, should be observed by Christians in honour of Christ's birth. However, in the East, this date was not accepted; and for centuries, January 6th was celebrated as the birthday of Jesus, particularly in Egypt. Some branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church, even today, keep January 6th as Christmas day THIS MONTH: Relive the fun of the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization's demonstrations and sea turtle parade. Beginning of truffle season. (The fungus, not the chocolates that look like a fungus.) 12/2/2001 - Advent 12/6/2001 - Saint Nicholas Day 12/8/2001 - Immaculate Conception 12/9/2001 - Hanukkah begins at sundown 12/9/2001 - Advent 12/13-14/2001 - Geminids meteor shower (dark skies near new moon, start looking around 10 pm). Lie in the snow on a Thermarest, drink Irish coffees from a thermos, and listen to the winter silence. 12/14/2001 - New Moon. 12/14/2001 - Partial eclipse of the Sun in the afternoon fo the western Unied States and Mexico, later afternoon in the central US, and around Sunset for most of the East. The Northeast misses it. 12/16/2001 - Advent 12/16 - Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, 1773. Taxation without representation sucked. Pick up a copy of "The Patriot" starring Mel Gibson, watch it with a cup of reasonably taxed tea. 12/21/2001 - Winter solstice at 1:21 PM CST. 12/23/2001 - Advent 12/24/2001 - Saint Sylvster 12/25/2001 - Christmas Day, the nominal birthday of Christ. His real birthday is estimated to be sometime in spring, 3 B.C. (an ironic concept that He would be born before his official time) 12/26/2001 - Boxing day and a good time to trot out the Feng Shui book. 12/26/2001 - Kwanzaa begins 12/26/2001 - St. Stephen's Day (Rep. of Ireland) 12/30/2001 - Full Moon called the Long Night Moon or Moon After Yule. The Hopi people call it the Respect Moon. A slight penumbral eclipse can be seen at 4:29 am CST. 12/31/2001 - Last day of the first year of the new millenium.