12 21 99

gifts

I actually got up at a reasonable hour and managed to get some of my Christmas shopping done.

Note that I said some.

Anyway, I only have two more presents to get. I have an idea for the first one, and no idea at all for the second one. And it's crunch time. AUGH!

I have a horrible time buying Christmas presents. When it's not Christmas, I don't have any problem finding stuff. I love surprising people with little gifts at various times of the year. I might see something which makes me think of someone, so I get it for them. No problem, right?

Unfortunately, around Christmas all that dries up. I have no inspiration. When I get something during the rest of the year, I never remember to keep it until Christmas - I want to give it to them right away. So by the time Christmas comes around, I have nothing for them.

I think it's the deadline of actually having to come up with presents by a certain date. I'm put on the spot! I can't stand the pressure.

As much as I like receiving gifts, I really do enjoy giving them more. I love making someone happy with just the perfect item. No, really. The look on their face when they open the present... It gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies inside.

Lots of our passengers have been sending us stuff for Christmas. Plates of cookies, fudge, bread, and other assorted goodies. Sometimes they specify that the treats go to the driver, and sometimes they say, "This is for the girls in the office." My sugar intake has skyrocketed in the past week. I think they're trying to fatten us up for some reason. grin

And tomorrow is the solstice. I have a lot to say about this, so it will replace the regular "Looking Up" section in the sidebar.

There's been an email floating around the Net saying that the Moon tomorrow night will be the brightest it's been in 133 years. I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but that's WRONG. This email originated with an article from an almanac. Yes, the Moon is the closest it will get to us all year. Yes, the Earth will be as close to the sun as it gets all year. And yes, the moon will be full.

However... if you look at the numbers, this is not a unique circumstance. In fact, it's happened about six times in the past 130-some years. And if you look even closer at the numbers, the Moon was closer to us in 1910 than it is now. Strictly speaking, 1910 should have been "the brightest Moon."

Yes, the Moon will be bright. But not noticeably so. If you had a very sensitive light meter (and had been keeping records on the Moon's luminescence), you might detect a very slight increase in its brightness. But your naked eye won't detect it.

Since so many people live their days not looking up at all, they will go outside tomorrow night and marvel at the "bright" Moon. Yes, it will look bright to them - but only because they have nothing to compare it with.

I am constantly appalled at how many people confuse "astronomy" with "astrology." I shake my head when people look at some bright star in the northern sky and declare it the "North Star." (The North Star is actually rather dim.) The night sky is truly a marvel. There, spread above your head, is the history of the Universe. You only have to know how to read it.

Tomorrow Wiccans and Neo-Pagans will celebrate Yule, the holiday of the Winter Solstice. It is the time of the year when the God dies, to be reborn in the spring from the Goddess. Regardless of whether you believe this or not, the Winter Solstice is a time for agrarian societies to come together and give their thanks for the bounty of the previous year, and a time to plan for the coming spring.

I don't subscribe to the Wiccan belief of a Goddess or God. But I'll remember the Solstice tomorrow by looking up at the extraordinary, ordinary Moon above me, and thinking of what I am thankful for this year.

______ of the Day

Spinning

The Christmas Cats. Cats meowing Christmas carols. Frightening.