Blue Moon

The origin of the term blue moon is steeped in folklore, and its meaning has changed and acquired new and interesting meanings and nuances over time. The earliest known recorded usage was in 1528, in a pamphlet entitled Rede Me and Be Not Wrothe: [If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is true]. "They would make men believe ... that the moon is made of green cheese".

The most obvious meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden in 1950 and Canada in 1951 and, notably, after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which caused the moon to appear blue for nearly two years.

The older meaning of blue moon to name an extra full moon, as was used in the Maine Farmer's Almanac, was the third full moon in a quarter of the year when there were four full moons – normally a quarter year has three full moons.

In recent times, people have taken to calling a full moon a blue moon based on the Gregorian calendar. By this use of the term, a blue moon is the second of two full moons to occur in the same calendar month.

Calendar blue moons occur infrequently, and the saying once in a blue moon is used to describe a rare event. On average, this happens once every 2.72 years. Additionally, in some years there is no full moon in February at all, since February is slightly shorter than the time from one full moon to the next. This condition, known as black moon, gives additional 'blue' moons in the preceding and following months.

Since February is one or two days shorter than the moon's cycle, very occasionally it has no full moon – there is a full moon at the end of January, and the next one is at the beginning of March. What this means is that both January and March will have blue moons. This happens, on average, once every thirty-five years.

The next blue moon will be December 31, 2009. Because February, will have no full moon in 2018, January and March will each have a calendar blue moon that year.

Hustle hustle Use Your Muscle

Did you know that when you push against something with all your strength, the muscles you use all are actually arranged so that they are pulling?

That's why the adult human body has three times as many muscles as bones -- 656 muscles to 206 bones, according to Amazing Facts About Your Body

Other miscellaneous facts about muscles:
The largest muscles in the body are the two in your buttocks that control your thigh bones.
Muscles make up about 42 percent of a man's body weight and about 36 percent of a woman's.
Your body's muscles are strongest at age 25 and begin to decline after that.

Nature's Housing

Grow your own birdhouses.
Bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) are easy to grow on fences or trellises, and once dried they make an ideal home for purple martins, swallows, chickadees and wrens. Besides bringing beauty and interest to your home, these birds will eat thousands of insects each day.

Although gourds can be grown in hills as you would grow squash and pumpkin, gourds that are left lying on the ground will flatten on one side and may be susceptible to rot. If you prefer to grow them in hills, try providing several inches of hay as a mulch to keep the gourds off the ground. Bottle gourds will tolerate a light frost; so allow them to dry on the vine as long as possible. Once harvested, they will need a cool, dry place to complete the drying process. They are completely dry when you can hear the seeds rattle inside when you shake them. This may take several months.

To fashion your birdhouse, drill a hole 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Smaller holes will accommodate small birds such as wrens, while a larger hole will allow larger birds such as martins to take up residence. You should also drill a few tiny holes in the bottom of the gourd for drainage. Drill two holes in the top, and thread a cord through them. Now your birdhouse is ready to hang. It will last up to two years untreated, or you can varnish the gourd for a longer lasting birdhouse.

For The Birds

A pet store gave away birds with no perches necessary.

Book 'Em Danno

Authors in jail have their prose and cons.

Thought For The Day

Learn from others mistakes.
We can't live long enough to make them all ourselves.

Toot Toot

Pat and his wife, Martha, were getting ready to leave home for a vacation. Martha started out the door, then stopped and said, "Pat, this time you check to see if the coffee pot is off, television plugs are pulled, burglar alarm on, doors locked, and I'll go out and blow the horn."

Half Baked Humor

There are lots of bakeries on the Yeast Coast.

Stormy Weather

It's been storming the last few days and I got to thinking about the song...

Stormy Weather

Don't know why, there's no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather, since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time

Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather, just can't get my poor old self together
I'm weary all the time, the time, so weary all of the time

When he went away, the blues walked in and met me
If he stays away, old rocking chair will get me
All I do is pray, the lord above will let me
walk in the sun once more

Can't go on, everything I had is gone
Stormy weather, since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time
Keeps raining all of the time

I walk around heavy-hearted and sad
Night comes around and I'm still feeling bad
Rain pourin' down, blinding every hope I had
This pitter andd n patter and beating, spattering driving me mad
Love, love, love, love, the misery will be the end of me

When he went away, the blues walked in and met me
If he stays away, old rocking chair will get me
All I do is pray, the lord above will let me
Walk in the sun once more

Can't go on, everything I had is gone
Stormy weather, since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time, the time
Keeps raining all the time

1st Day of Summer

Today is the first day of summer, also known as summer solstice.

The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the Sun in relation to the celestial equator. The summer solstice is the date with the longest day and hence with the shortest night. This date usually falls on June 21/June 22 (in the Northern hemisphere) or December 21/December 22 (in the Southern hemisphere).

Traditionally, Summer Solstice is celebrated at noon when the sun stands directly overhead and the full force of solar energy can be felt and drawn upon in ritual. One stands beneath the sun, for a while, absorbing the light and heat, and establishing a connection which can be drawn upon in rites later that night.

This is a time of purifying, of cutting through obstacles and drawing on the dynamic power of the God principle to manifest your own power. Lift up your hearts in celebration of the fertility and wonder of life and remember to give thanks for that which has been manifested for you since the last Sabbat.

Many traditions throughout time have celebrated the Solstices, from the times of the ancient and the indigenous people to present day. Bonfires are set on hilltops. People dance around the fires. In many places, after the fire has died away and only the hot coals are remaining, children will be lifted across the coals to be blessed and cleansed by the smoke.

The Summer Solstice is a time to be happy. It is a time to remove unwanted things from your life. It is a time to dance and sing and spread joy and be filled with love.

This Day In History

On June 20
1837 Queen Victoria ascended the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.
1863 The National Bank of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA, became the first bank to receive a charter from the U.S. Congress.
1910 Fanny Brice debuted in the New York production of the "Ziegfeld Follies."
1943 Race-related rioting erupted in Detroit. Federal troops were sent in two days later to end the violence that left more than 30 dead.
1947 Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills, CA, at the order of mob associates angered over the soaring costs of his project, the Flamingo resort in Las Vegas, NV.
1948 "Toast of the Town" debuted on CBS-TV. The show was hosted by Ed Sullivan.
1950 Willie Mays graduated from high school and immediately signed with the New York Giants.
1955 The AFL and CIO agreed to combine names and merge into a single group.
1963 The United States and Soviet Union signed an agreement to set up a hot line communication link between the two countries.
1966 The U.S. Open golf tournament was broadcast in color for the first time.
1979 ABC News correspondent, Bill Stewart, was shot to death in Managua, Nicaragua, by a member of President Anastasio Somoza's national guard.
1997 The tobacco industry agreed to a massive settlement in exchange for major relief from mounting lawsuits and legal bills.
2001 In Texas, Andrea Yates was arrested for drowning her five children in a bathtub.
2002 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of mentally retarded murderers was unconstitutionally cruel. The vote was 6 in favor and 3 against.

Know It All

A college English professor walked into his crowded freshman class. Stood at the podium until the class quieted.

The professor proceeded to proclaim that there are no two positive words in the English language that when used together form a negative.


From the gallery came a shout "Yea Right"

The professor closed his books and left.

Going Going Gone

An attorney I know once drafted wills for an elderly husband and wife who had been somewhat apprehensive about discussing death. When they arrived to sign the documents, he ushered the couple into his office. "Now," he said to them, "which one of you wants to go first?"

Fathers Day

No matter how tall you may grow,
a father is someone you always look up to.




I cross-stitched this saying on a sampler one year
and gave it to my dad on Fathers Day.
He loved it.

In Hot Water

Women are like tea bags.
They don't know how strong they are
until they get into hot water.

Eleanor Roosevelt *


Remember the tea kettle;
it is always up to it's neck
in hot water, yet it still sings.

No Running In the House!

If you run through a screen door you'll strain yourself.

Do Tell

A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.

The Letter

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see the bed nicely made up and everything neat and tidy.

Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, 'Dad.'

With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:

Dear Dad, It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with you and Mom.

I've been finding real passion with Joan and she is so nice. I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, her tight motorcycle clothes and because she is so much older than I am.

But it's not only the passion, Dad, she's pregnant.
Joan says that we are going to be very happy. She owns a
trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood, enough for the whole winter.

We share a dream of having many more children.
Joan has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it and trading it with the other people in the commune for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want.

In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Joan can get better; she sure deserves it!

Don't worry Dad, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Someday, I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

Your son, Chad

P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house.I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that's in my desk drawer.

I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home.

A Baa-d Joke

Shepherds sometimes have staff meetings.

Word Play

For each of the following word pairs, you are looking for two word answer, the first is a rhyme of the first word and gives the category.

The second word is a rhyme and is a specific word in that category. For example, "Kitty, Tennis" translates to "City, Venice".

1. Varmint, Packet
2. Duller, Fellow
3. Speaker, Spiky
4. Funny, Scholar
5. Petal, Shopper
6. Foxer, Bison
7. Fetal, Bingo










Garment, Jacket
Color, Yellow
Sneaker, Nike
Money, Dollar
Metal, Copper
Boxer, Tyson
Beatle, Ringo

Lucky Charms

French author François de la Rochefoucauld wrote over 400 years ago, "Nature creates ability, luck provides you with opportunity."

Dice

Ever since the Greeks invented dice in 484 BC, they were connected to the heavens. Indeed, the belief that a throw of the dice was controlled by the gods, was why they were used to divide inheritances, choose rulers and as a way of predicting the future.
To be sure, the Roman goddess, Fortuna, daughter of Zeus (known to gamblers as Lady Luck), was the one who determined the outcome of a throw.

Horseshoe

Horseshoes have been used for protection since 959 AD, when the Archbishop of Canterbury, a blacksmith by trade, nailed a horseshoe to the Devil's hoof when the Devil asked him to reshod his horse. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door.


Four Leaf Clover

According to legend, each leaf of the clover helps attract a specific attribute. The First Leaf will bring hope into your life. The Second Leaf will help bring faith and belief in yourself and others into your life. The Third Leaf will attract Love, and the Fourth Leaf will bring you luck.
The Druids believed that a four-leaf clover would repel demons and bad luck. Today, it is said that four-leaf clovers attract an energy that helps clarify one's judgment.

The Playing Card

Cards have been connected with predicting the future as early as 1487, when a secret order of magicians in Venice found a significance in the numbers and symbols of the cards and how they could foretell future events. These magicians were the Illuminati (a group of people who claim they received this information from God) and as such kept their divination methods very secret.
To be sure, the first known records of the divinatory meanings assigned to Tarot cards did not appear until almost 250 years later!
Specifically, the Club, otherwise known as trefoils, represents: fire, energy, willpower, wealth, work, luck, and happiness. The Ace of Clubs in particular attracts wealth, fame, friends and influential acquaintances.

Lucky Number 7

When people began to analyze and combine numbers, they took the perfect world number 4 and added to it the perfect divine number 3, and got 7, the most sacred number in the Bible.
It symbolized earthly endeavors encouraged by the powers of heaven - the luckiest, most advantageous situation imaginable. This kind of Supreme Luck has and will continue to attract the energy, people, situations and opportunities one needs to multiply their wealth, prosperity and happiness many times over.

Burger Time

What was the first chain of hamburger restaurants in the United States?












White Castle

Yada Yada

My husband and I divorced over religious differences.
He thought he was God and I didn't.

For every person with a spark of genius,
there are a hundred with ignition trouble.

Scared

Two kids are arguing over whose father is the biggest scaredy-cat.

The first kid says, "My dad is so scared that when lightning strikes, he hides underneath the bed."

The second kid replies,"Yeah? Well, that's nothing. My dad is so scared that when my mom has to work the nightshift, he sleeps with the lady next door."

Dear - Deer

What was the first animal to be used as a `beast of burden`?

Reindeer - Snow sleds pulled by reindeer which date before 5000 BC have been discovered in Northern Europe.

Think Fast

In 90 seconds name 100 words that do NOT contain the letter A. Start the clock!














Just count from 1 to 100.

Stranger In The House

The Stranger (Food for thought)

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to
our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this
enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The
stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young
mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary
instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.
But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us
spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.


If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he
always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and
even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the
first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry.
The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were
shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the
kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the
stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the
stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home...
Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that
burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger
encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look
cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much
too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant,
sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced
strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of
my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with
our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating
as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den
today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting
for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?...




We just call him, "TV."

He has a wife now....We call her "Computer."

Heart Strings

Do you remember the first sound you ever heard?

Though it may have receded from our consciousness, its repetitions echo emotionally all our lives, soothing when the rhythm is slow, exciting when it's fast. Even the first words we try to speak imitate that sound -- ma ma, da da, boo boo. And later, as adults we are soothed by poetry or music written with the same rhythmic ba-BUM, ba-BUM sound.

The sound is a mother's heartbeat.

For a baby in the womb the mother's heartbeat performs the ultimate cradlesong of peace and plenty. The womb is a snug, familiar landscape, an envelope of rhythmic warmth, and the mother's heartbeat a steady clarion of safety.

And for the rest of our lives, everything important becomes heartfelt, from a broken heart to how we feel deep in our heart.

Warm Weather Advisory

It's the first day of June. We have three weeks until the official start of Summer, but I always think of this day as the begining. We will be busy with outdoor activities and I wanted to remind people of basic precautions for having a safe and happy summer.
Remember to always buckle up when traveling, wear sunscreen,mosquito repellant, swim in safe areas, keep hydrated, avoid too much alcohol and keep a watchful eye on your children.

Beat the Heat

Working outside in midday when the heat and humidity are high can be dangerous. Drink plenty of fluids before going outdoors and while you work, and watch for these signs that you may be getting into trouble:
nausea or cramps
dizziness
dry skin - no sweating
redness
goose bumps on chest and arms
incoherent speech and thoughts
loss of gait or coordination