Happy Friday the 13th. We’re not that much into the superstition surrounding the second occurence of this so-called unlucky day of the year. Why? Because today is Nature Friday around Blogville which means we’re joining our friends, Rosy and her brothers from LLB in our Backyard while we check out various nuggets of beauty that Mother Nature showcases…provided we actually look for it.
It’s been a crazy busy week as we’re preparing for Santa Paws’ arrival in just eleven days. E-l-e-v-e-n!! Awk…I’m hustling as fast as I can but it seems as if I’m just on a treadmill and not marking too many things off the “to-do” list which is no good excuse for not consciously looking around to see what nature dishes out. As the week progressed, I bemoaned the fact the greyness of December hadn’t really offered much in terms of something notable until I took the pups out first thing this morning.
December ushers in winter and its Full Moon is called the Cold Moon. It can also be referred to as Long Nights Moon, or the Moon before Yule. Technically, the full moon reached peak fullness at 12:12 A.M. EST on December 12th however, in western time zones, the noon rose on Wednesday, December 11. No worries though, it still illuminated our early morning sky and as I waited for the Knuckleheads to do their morning constitution (or in the Ninja’s case, racing zoomies after emptying her bladder), I looked up toward the Western sky.
My neighborhood of older homes has tall, mature trees lining its streets. Across the street I noticed the moon was framed among leafless branches. All I had on me to capture it was my cell phone so it’s not a great image, but it still cast an interesting image with the branches surrounding the moon like a wreath.
What makes this month’s full moon special? Because of its high trajectory across the sky, it will sit above the horizon for a longer period of time.
Also notable this month are shooting stars from the Geminid Meteor Shower, which is the most active meteor shower of the year. I haven’t seen it yet but hope to check it out tonight when it should be at its most prolific. Snow is in our forecast so there may not be a chance but the shower may be visible for a few more nights.
We hope you have a terrific Friday and an even better weekend. The Ninja plans to spend as much time as possible squirrel hunting while I’m running around like a crazy person getting ready for the big holiday. Whatever you do, make sure to take a look at nature.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
We were sitting in a meadow hot-tubbing with our friends last evening, and we saw so many shooting stars. It was amazing. Now, I know why (none of us knew about the shower). I love your moon photo!
Living in the city, it’s not likely I’ll get to see the showers. Light pollution is nearly as bad as air pollution any more. 🙁
That is an amazing picture, even with just your cell phone (which is all I ever use).
Thanks. Having one’s cell phone with you all the time makes certain you don’t miss potential interesting photos. 😉
The sky is my favourite colour!
Early morning sky is so evocative.
Last night’s moonset was pretty good. I felt like I was getting “mooned” but I’m luney by nature.
Now that’s one kind of mooning that isn’t offensive.
Oh yes, Ma is tryin’ to gets everythings done and getting nowhere!!! She hasn’t even sent my Christmas cardies out yet!!!! sigh. Anyhu, that pic is pawsome!!!! I can’t say that we’ve seen it here, cause we have had nothin’ butts rain and cloudy skies! everytime they SAY it’s gonna be sunny…more clouds and rain!!! sigh. Anyhu have a pawsome Friday, and tells Elsa that I have been chasin’ the tree rats here too, and almost gots one today!!!! Tells her they are gettin’ all fat as slow from all the acorns they’ve been woofin’ down!
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
I think a team of you and Elsie (Team Tuff) would have a big advantage over team Team Squirrel. 🐿
That full cold moon was blazing into our windows like the sun. We loved it. Mom and I don’t like dark…
Love and licks,
Cupcake
A little bit of light makes for sweet dreams rather than nightmares.
Great picture. I was driving into town to go to a Christmas program when I noticed it. It was so low on the horizon, very bright, and seemed bigger than normal. I tried to get a picture, but it didn’t turn out too good. All of the places where I could have gotten a better one I had no where to stop the car. Oh well. I have the memory. As for Christmas – I have no decorations up, have written for greeting cards out of about 75 I normally send, and have purchased only one gift. I think I may be a tad behind this year!
Can’t help but feel a kindred spirit with you for Christmas preparations. We hope you have super ‘howlidays.’
We try to always “stop and smell the roses”, so to speak, but Christmas time is tough! I have a billion other things rolling around in my mind when we’re out on our walks. Since we lost all our snow to the rain, things are looking pretty “blah” out there. Luke, however, still stays quite busy sniffing things out, so he’s happy!
Gotta love a dog’s ability to live in the moment. I wish I were more like my dogs.
That’s so funny…last night I noticed the moon through the kitchen window in the branches of our neighbor’s big eucalptus tree. It was like a spotlight!
How cool is that?! The moon always seems brighter in winter months.
We noticed the brilliance of the moon whilst lounging in the hot tub last night. Southern California hedonism? Nah, the neighbors can’t see the wrinkles at night. But we never see the meteor showers or even many stars because of the light pollution (yuck).
Yeah, it’s bad when you live in the city, with or without wrinkles. Enjoy that hedonism!
Lovely photograph!
I would say Christmas? Humbug! But I haven’t even made those yet!
It seems to come sooner each year. 😕
Good ole rainy season had us missing the beautiful moon, thanks for giving us a peek!
xoxo,
Rosy, Jakey & Arty
Well nuts…the moon has been pretty awesome of late. Stay dry!
oh great, just what we need, a full moon hanging around longer than usual (BWWWWAH!) When I worked at the newspaper we knew there was a full moon by the number of crazies that called us. I learned at that time that the effects of a full moon are 4 days before it and 4 days after……so buckle up bucko……………..BOL BOL BOL!
These days, how can anyone tell? Crazy no longer seems to have a short shelf life. *sigh* It’s more like 24/7/365.
thanks for telling about the meteors! The moon has been just beautiful this week
I heard the mountain areas might get 3 feet of snow! I hope the 1-3″ predicted here is correct.
It seems to always look better in the cold atmosphere of December.
I hadn’t even noticed that this is Friday the 13th. I’ve never had bad things happen on that day so I won’t expect disaster.
Thanks for the heads-up on celestial shows.
Hope you can view them; they should be pretty amazing.
🐬🐬…move to strike the last word 🐬🐬🧐
Truly lovely photo. I wanted to go out and check for said moon but was feeling so crappy that even when I went to my doctor’s appointment at 9 pm (yes, my doctor’s office holds hours up to 10 pm!) I never even looked up… Sigh.
Hope the doctor provided something to help you feel better.
Ugh. Got a prescription for heavy-duty anti-inflammatories for three days and now I’m waiting for the results of my throat culture, for which I have a prescription should it be positive. You know when you have trouble believing you will ever feel better?
Sadly I do. Hope the meds kick in soon and provide you some relief.
Me too! I hate being a wimp… and that’s what I am right now…
It’s part of a mom’s DNA to not like being sick.
True ’nuff.
When your kid looks at you and says: Gee… you look like death, then turns away and continues with his thing. Gee… such compassion. I can’t handle it!
Now I understand why tigers eat their young.
I say that all the time… actually, I say, I understand why some species eat their young 😉
I baked into our mom DNA! 😂
Darn tootin’!
Gah…make that “It’s” not I. Egad, it sounds like I’m half baked!
Please don’t even bother. Luckily for you, I’m too sick to notice 😉 And besides, I never care coz I know we all have our moments.
😘
😘
I remember meteor showers. Back in the day when you could still see stars in the sky around here…
Yeah light pollution doesn’t make for good viewing.
Pretty photo!
Thanks! Too bad I didn’t have the big camera to really showcase it. Happy weekend!