Sunday Morning Tea Thoughts

A few thoughts on a cold and sunny Sunday (no snow left anywhere, except one small patch, the size of a loaf of bread, in my back yard)....

*I'm drinking lukewarm jasmine green tea instead of coffee, because R accidentally broke the carafe for the coffee maker. It seems every third or fourth year someone in the house does this in a clumsy turn of events and we have to replace it( a "must-do" for today!).

*I was overwhelmed by the response I got from Friday's blog and I also showed the comments to Rachel and she scrolled down and read each one. She didn't say much(that's how she is), but I think it was good for her to get that kind of response to something she wrote , other than what she would normally get from teachers for writing assignments.

I wasn't even going to blog about Rosalie this year, but after I read what R wrote, I felt I had to. I don't know how much of what she "remembers" is based on what we have told her(Rachel was just short of her third birthday when Rosalie passed away), but I was both moved by her feelings and remembrance of her younger sister(and one of the things I'll always remember was the lack of any jealousy at the time Rosalie was with us and all the attention she needed--Rachel was always simply happy to be with her sister each day) and also her way with words. So, thank you, too, for reading what my daughter wrote and your truly comforting words about a sad event.

* What kind of got me through these last few days, was work, believe it or not. I had to keep my mind on my job, basically.

It's been busy and I worked yesterday(nine hours on my feet) and it was non-stop framing designing from 10:00 to almost 4:00! There were two of us there and we never got a break to do anything--no lunch(we gulped down our cold food after 3:30), no break to take a sip of water, no bathroom break(!)..it was intense. As soon as you had finished up with one order, you would look up and there would be another person holding a painting they wanted to pick out a frame for! It must be that people are stuck inside looking at their four walls(and these have to be people with a little extra cash) and are inspired to redecorate. That's good for us at the frame shop.

Maybe now my boss will loosen up on his "keep the temperature on the lowest setting possible policy"--it's so cold in that place that in the mornings, I have to make sure I dress in layers and layers. Most mornings in that back room, where the mat cutter is, it takes me at least an hour to take my coat and scarf off.

******************

**One more thing...did anyone notice the giant full moon Friday night?

I *thought* it seemed larger than usual when I drove up the road to bring R to a friend's house at around 7:00, but only read this explanation at the Christian Science Monitor site the following morning:

*********************************

By Pete Spotts / January 29, 2010

Tonight will be the biggest, brightest full moon of the year
Friday's full moon – or the wolf moon – will be larger than any other in 2010. Here's why.

If you're a fan of the moon and Mars, tonight's a twofer: You'll see the biggest, brightest full moon of the year, and Mars will appear at its biggest and brightest in the past 780 days.
Friday's moon will be 30 percent brighter and 14 percent wider than a full moon at the opposite time of year.
The reasons: The moon traces an elliptical orbit around Earth, and tonight Ol' Luna will be at its closest point with respect to Earth; and Mars will be in opposition -- opposite the sun when viewed from Earth, and thus as close to the third rock from the sun as it ever gets. (No, it will never, ever – not even close – look as big as the full moon.) However, if you want a comparison, astronomers say the red planet will appear nearly as bright as Sirius, the star with the highest apparent brightness in the night sky.
Over at Space.com, the resident skywatchers have unearthed a list of names some Native American nations gave the full moons appearing in a given month. Tonight's spectacular is the full Wolf moon. (Don't tell your pet dog, it might be too hard to get him/her back in after a nocturnal walk.) You can find the full list of named moons here.