When I got up this morning there was a big pink present and a Valentine card on my computer desk. This Waterford® Seahorse™ 10″ crystal bowl was inside. Click on the image to enlarge.
p.s. He gets me Waterford every Valentine’s Day – How Womantic!
Culture
Cross-Quarter Days – Happy Imbolc!
Today is February 3rd which is a cross-quarter day. During Earth’s orbital motion, cross-quarters occur midway between solstices and equinoxes. They have been observed by cultures for many, many centuries. Today, for example, might have been the day that nomadic tribes may start their journey toward spring hunting and gathering lands.
Image: Imbolc – click for a complete orbital depiction.
In our culture, we consult a fat rodent for a non-scientific weather prediction – sort of like Al Gore, in a way.
A good place to read about equinoxes, solstices and cross-quarters is Archeoastronomy.com. The cross-quarter days are summarized below the break:
Thus, Imbolc was the beginning of Spring. Imbolc corresponds more or less to Groundhog Day in the USA, February 2, when tradition has it that if a sleepy groundhog creeping out of its burrow at dawn sees its shadow, there are 6 more weeks of winter. (If not, we surmise, only 42 days remain.) Solmonath and Candlemas were Church-approved substitute names for Imbolc, which is spelled Imbolg by some pagans. Druids prefer Oimeaig, pronounced IM-mol’g.
Latest Addition to the Aloha Shirt Collection
We stopped in Kingman, Arizona, on our recent Winter Cruise. There is a tourist spot there called the Kingman Powerhouse, which is a tribute to the railways and Route 66 in Kingman. There is a gift shop there who had their usually high-priced Aloha Shirts at reduced prices. I picked this colorful Route 66 print at Verna’s recommendation. Click on the print to enlarge.
Happy 2009!
I can’t take credit for this panoramic view of Hoover Dam, since I cropped it from one of Verna’s Dam shots. I do take credit for the word art, however.
If you care to see the panorama unobstructed by the dam text, click on the dam image.
Post-Rain Poinsettia
When I planted these poinsettias in the planters by our front porch, I knew that they would be pretty and festive for Christmas. Today, after the rain showers stopped, they looked very pretty indeed, adorned with these glistening raindrops. Click for large size.
Christmas Lights 2008
Here is our house with the final layer of Christmas Lights. We scaled down the display this year to save a little electricity. There are four strings of colored C9s (100 feet) and four strings of little white icicle lights (about 80 feet). Around the front window is a string of twinkle lights with colored bulbs. In reserve to be used next year, maybe, we have net lights for the bushes and rope lights for the trees.
Click the image above for a bigger view.
