Saturday, February 15, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

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EYES TO THE SKY: Planet Venus, the Evening Star, closest, brightest mid-February

At peak magnitude, seek out the goddess of love planet in a clear blue sky in the west-southwest during daylight hours, being extremely careful to keep eyes diverted from the sun.

NATURE’S TURN: Turning the corner to spring — a Valentine for Earth

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic communi-ty.” — Aldo Leopold

NATURE’S TURN: Dynamic winter designs in snow, treetops

The first porcupine in a string of winter squatters and the first to enter right beside the doorstep to my home, this entitled individual even tread onto and then sidled sideways off the edge of the lowest steppingstone to my front door to reach the crawlspace.

EYES TO THE SKY: Shortest day, longest night of the year. Four-planet evenings.

The shortest days, longest nights of the year continue from this first day of winter in the northern hemisphere. Only seconds are gained until the end of December.

NATURE’S TURN: Snow prevails above all else as drought persists

Western Massachusetts and parts of neighboring Connecticut and New York are designated Severe Drought by U.S. Drought Monitor, Dec. 3, 2024.

DATELINE STOCKBRIDGE: Pullman cars and the first recognized Black labor union

For 101 years, from 1867 to 1968, the Pullman car, built by engineer and industrialist George M. Pullman, was the epitome of luxury.

EYES TO THE SKY: Early evening string of planets

I enjoy marking day’s end, beginning of nighttime, with a glance to the dazzling white Evening Star low in the south-southwest.

NATURE’S TURN: Good medicine

In the garden, when a melon harvest was complete at the end of August and potatoes dug in early September, the bare ground was sown to cover crops of peas and oats.

EYES TO THE SKY: Awe-inspiring Milky Way nights. Summer stars set

We are like the starry-eyed child in the picture above.

NATURE’S TURN: Moose — bigger than a horse and smaller than an elephant

The moose is the largest species of deer in the world and among the largest land mammals in the world.

EYES TO THE SKY: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS visits Earth’s skies amidst setting summer stars

"The Voyager 1 spacecraft took 35 years to leave the sun’s magnetic influence. It’s traveling one million miles each day. At that speed, it will take 300 years to reach the inner layer of the Oort Cloud. Then, it will take 30,000 years to get through it all. It’s that thick! This is where some comets come from."

NATURE’S TURN: Feeding the living world around us — late summer garden and field surprises

After four years of growing swamp milkweed, two new milkweed-eating insects arrived a few weeks ago.

EYES TO THE SKY: Brilliant planet Venus follows sunset. Brightest star, Sirius, precedes sunrise.

Even as we adapt to changing conditions on Earth, the heavenly bodies remain constant.

NATURE’S TURN: Sleeping bees awaken, Fritillary pollinator of the month

While concerned about the swallowtails, I am heartened by a few Monarch butterflies sailing over the landscape and am reminded to look for a chrysalis where I recently observed a monarch caterpillar.

EYES TO THE SKY: Arcturus and Vega, evening’s brightest stars. Little brown bat delights. Perseid Meteor Shower peaks overnight 11th – 12th

The Perseid Meteor Shower, the most anticipated and prolific meteor event of the year, is predicted to peak the night of August 11 into dawn August 12.

NATURE’S TURN: Painted Mountain corn for a changing climate

Inspired to share the adventure of cultivating corn in a small garden—and to make a plan to grow it next spring—I send this story to you.

EYES TO THE SKY: Stargazing supreme — dark skies, warm nights

Crucial to the survival of our view to the cosmos is working together to significantly reduce light pollution.