Yesterday evening as darkness fell, I went to close the blinds and discovered the planet Venus beaming in my face. Then there was tiny red Mars above and to the left. This time of year it’s rare to see anything in the sky except clouds and occasionally the obscured light of the moon. <\/p>\n
So behind am I on my astronomy that I had to doublecheck that it was Venus, not Jupiter, that bright and that high above the horizon. The website I consulted even said Mercury should have been somewhere in view, but there were hills in the way. I felt lucky enough to see two planets. <\/p>\n
I used to love sky watching and even once built my own eight-inch reflector telescope. Ground the mirror and everything. But the NorthWET, it goes without saying, isn’t friendly to such a hobby. Anyhow, the telescope got left behind years ago when I ran from a relationship that had turned dangerously crazy.<\/p>\n
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This morning we’re awaiting an ice storm. Probably not a catastrophic one. Minor. But following a brisk (read: damn freaking cold and windy, but boy was that aerobic) morning walk in the woods, Ava and I are huddling in front of a faux fire and not going anywhere.<\/p>\n
Despite the wind, the day feels very still, as if it’s waiting<\/em> for something.<\/p>\n This house has a heat pump that keeps the main rooms tolerable on 50-degree days, but when it gets as cold as this, that otherwise blessed device just doesn’t do it. So I thank friends and fortune for several alternate sources of heat for days like this (or in case the ice pulls power lines down this afternoon).<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Speaking of not wanting to venture outside — and speaking of relationships getting dangerously crazy — MJR sends this report<\/a> of a new app developed in Russia that … well, check it for yourself, then kiss privacy goodbye if you’ve ever posted photos of yourself anywhere.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n And speaking of storms … I’m sure you’ve heard numerous times about Waffle House restaurants being open when all around was complete weather chaos and closures. But did you know that FEMA even keeps a semi-official Waffle House Index<\/a> to help gage the severity of bad weather?<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Here’s one of those found-on-line things I planned to write my own riff on, but since I might not get to that soon, enjoy the ZMan’s thoughts on “CalExit!”<\/a> His take is more conservative than yours or mine, but still pretty interesting.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Finally, today at Amazon it’s “Five Golden Things.” Sometimes they really are stretching to keep their “12 Days of Deals” theme, because other than 55% off on select jewelry<\/a>, none of today’s deals have anything to do with gold. They’ve got 60% off on cold-weather accessories<\/a>, a home karaoke system<\/a> for 50 bux, and a bunch of other deals<\/a> of the day. But gold? Gold? Not hardly.<\/p>\n That said, even though it’s not a “deal,” here’s something a lot of us wouldn’t mind having: Firefly: The Gorramn Shiniest Dictionary and Phrasebook in the ‘Verse<\/i><\/a>. No kidding.<\/p>\n That’s it for today. Good luck with life, the universe, and the weather wherever you are. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday evening as darkness fell, I went to close the blinds and discovered the planet Venus beaming in my face. Then there was tiny red Mars above and to the left. This time of year it’s rare to see anything in the sky except clouds and occasionally the obscured light of the moon. So behind am I on my astronomy that I had to doublecheck that it was Venus, not Jupiter, that bright and that high above the horizon. The website I consulted even said Mercury should have been somewhere in view, but there were hills in the way. I…<\/p>\n