I now have another constellation under my belt (no pun
intended.) Orion, this time. I’ve been noting those three stars in a line for
quite a while, but for some reason I always had the idea that the stars in
Orion’s belt were closer together. Tonight I came to the near-certainty that
they were, indeed, Orion’s middle bit, so I made a mental note of the positions
of other stars and checked with a website when I got back. Yup, I’ve found
Orion, which means that the star top left is Betelgeuse!!! (or Beetlejuice if
you prefer.) I even guessed that the missing star was Saiph, and that it was
below the horizon. Getting clever, aren’t I?
And to move on from the astronomical to the astrological,
today is my birthday. It’s also the night of the full moon, which is unusually
bright (and was positioned a little further north than the full moon usually is
at 8.45pm, which caused Miss Sarah’s cottage to be illuminated quite
brilliantly.) Furthermore, my ruling planet Jupiter is very close to her
(Mistress Moon, that is, not Miss Sarah,) which must bode something, mustn’t it?
She was casting very deep shadows, of course, and in one of
them something moved. It was The Beast of New House Farm again, out on his
nightly patrol. He didn’t wait to be invited this time, but approached me of
his own volition. After a brief pat on the head he wandered off towards the
pub, which makes me wonder whether he and Cassie (the publican’s dog) are now
an item. Maybe he’s a Sagittarian, too.
6 comments:
Well,well, well, happy birthday Jeff and an auspicious one it must be with Jupiter so close on the full moon. That sounds like a double dose of luck and inspiration to me!
The Beast of new House Farm, sounds like a good title for a novel to me.
More tired than I thought, repetition... It's these damn waifs I've been making!
Happy birthday!
I, too, have been looking for Orion in the night sky, only on my iPad app as we can't see the stars from our town (which is quite a bit north of Yonkers, by the way). Too much light pollution, sad isn't it?
Many happy returns.
NY
Ah, Mel, now you've done it. When somebody suggested I should write a story about watching paint dry, I took it as a challenge. When the old muse whispered that 'McCafferty Wants a Horse' would make a good title for a story, I took it as a challenge. And when a lady from Philadelphia appeared to be playing the leading character in my personal fairytale with connections to 'Casablanca,' I took it as a challenge. Do I still have the energy? You make very fine damn waifs, and thank you.
Thank you, Mrs NY. I should have known you couldn't possibly rhyme with bonkers. I'm going to have to get onto Google maps again and see what's north of Yonkers. My geographical knowledge of NYC and its environs is taking shape. Over here, by the way, Orion is more or less due east and just above the horizon at about 9pm. The three stars in a line are quite unmissable. And thank you for the good wishes.
Happy Birthday Jeff...Of course the moon is nice and bright for you. You always look for her and blog about her, so it doesn't surprise me. Honor yourself in some way, even though I can hear you protest, you deserve it.
I did, Wendy, I did. I had an egg custard for breakfast, which is pretty decadent, and another bottle of that IPA craft beer which came all the way from America. Getting the hang of me, aren't you?
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