January's Wolf Super Moon

01.09.20 Wolf Moon

With the arrival of this evening comes the first full moon of 2026. 

According to Native American tradition January's full moon is named after howling wolves and is remembered as the Wolf Moon. 

It is said that at any given time there are estimated to be a dozen wolves wandering-about here on the peninsula.  I haven’t heard any wolves howling - just the resident coyotes - likely explained by the fact that the only wolves here are  solitary males.  They've been  known to find their way here having dispersed from other packs in northeastern Wisconsin or Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  I am also told it is unlikely there is a breeding population around here.  But I digress.

In other cultures this is called the Old Moon, Snow Moon, Ice Moon or Moon after Yule.  My Celtic ancestors called this the Stay At Home Moon.  

This also happens to be super moon and will occur overnight tonight and tomorrow.  Full moons are always opposite the sun and fully illuminated.  They rise at sunset and set at sunrise.  In wintertime these moons reach as high in the sky at midnight as a summer noonday sun and cast shadows!  This is the third consecutive super moon (November, December and January) and will appear 8% larger and 16% brighter than your basic garden-variety full moon.  Here in the Midwest the crest of the full moon falls at 4:03 AM tomorrow.  Nevertheless, it will appear full both tonight and tomorrow and glow near Jupiter and the twin stars of Gemini - Castor and Pollux. 

And so it begins - if you like clear skies and howling at the moon - 2026 is going to deliver 13 must-see moon events including Super Moons, conjunctions and an eclipse.  You may wish to bookmark this link so you don’t miss anything.   

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear winter sky-gazing tonight. 

Friday Music

 Not much to say about a music machine with 2000 marbles.....

Joined The Club

A couple of months ago the Missus was in Green Bay on other business and made a trip to the local Costco, signed-up and reconnoitered the store.  She didn't purchase anything but briefly scouted the arrangement.  As she described it - If you could call it an arrangement. 

Last month we were in the Naked City for family stuff, stayed overnight, ran some errands at the Mayfair Mall, stopped in Manitowoc on the way home and finished with a stop at the Green Bay Costco.

We did a more in-depth scouting of the arrangement.   Clothing heaped on pallets, small kitchen utensils sharing shelves with furniture.  Cell phones and gas grills side by side, an Optical Department and much more.  IYK - YK.  Anyway, with a few more visits we'll probably get the lay of the land.  And while I haven't much use for ginormous haunches of beef, or a platoon-sized bag of frozen won tons; the produce looked great, same for the freshly-made chicken pot pies and rotisserie chicken salad.  Too bad I already purchased shrimp for the New Year festivities. I did pick-up a 40 pack of AA batteries for $19.99 (trail cameras) and a two pint container of blue berries for $3.79  Absolutely excellent pricing!  The Missus picked up some Christmas presents for herself and we both agreed that the World's Largest Retail Pumpkin Pie was a bargain at $5.99.  If I had a family with three growing children I'd be at Costco on a near weekly basis.

We get to Green Bay with sufficient frequency that it makes sense to start a Costco shopping list for bulk items.

And I got added to the plan on that visit and have my own ID.  Benefits of membership.

    Happy New Year!

A New Year Wish

This time of year brings exceptional opportunities to view the night skies without humidity, light clutter and skeeters.  All with only your eyes.

This is my pal Orion - The Hunter - an easily identified winter constellation in the southern night sky.  Doggo and I say good night to him before turning-in most nights. 

I’d like to take the last few moments of 2025 to wish all my friends, neighbors and acquaintances best wishes for good health, prosperity and community in the New Year. 

See ya in 2026!

Tom  

2025

On this last day of the year it seem appropriate to share some highlights of those brief, fleeting, moments associated with family, travel, food, community and more.

Google Photo periodically furnishes unsolicited photo vignettes using their AI platform

Happy New Year and thank you for reading, following and sharing.  See you next year on the flip side....

The Big Sniff

A couple of weekends ago Ruby and I set out for a walk and a circuit to swap out the SD cards on the trail cameras.

Periodically, the dog would stop in her tracks on the trail, give a certain location a long and deliberate sniff followed by peeing on that specific spot.  Having accomplished that task at various seemingly random locations we would continue on our way.

I had my suspicions about this scent marking behavior and after I uploaded the photos from the memory cards onto the laptop sure enough; both red fox and our resident ditch tiger stopping to mark their spot on one of the trails.

Sorta like leaving a business card in someone's door jamb to let them know you've paid a call while you were out.

December Night Sky

The close of 2025 is nigh upon us.  Looking for something to occupy your time and give you a break from the fire hose gush of nonsense coming from Washington?

Get out and chill out.

The evenings of December 30 and 31 present an opportunity to view both Aldebaran and the star cluster Pleiades.  

Aldebaran is the 'eye' of the constellation Taurus - The Bull.  In Greek mythology, Atlas' daughters turned into this group of stars.  Tonight and tomorrow the moon and Pleiades will cross the sky together in the southeastern sky.  Both will be visible for a few hours past midnight.  The chart is courtesy of EarthSky.

Fun Fact:  Subaru is the Japanese word for 'unite' as well as a term identifying this cluster of stars.  In 1953, five Japanese companies merged to form Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.  The resulting corporation adopted the star cluster as the official logo for its line of automobiles.  Fuji Heavy Industries, known as Subaru since 2017, is a global leader in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation.