Category: Wordless Wednesday

Almost Wordless Wednesday ~ February 9, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 38 Comments
Ducks
Canadian Goose cruising through calm waters toward Friday

Right behind you, buddy.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Wordy Wednesday ~ Groundhogs Day 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 77 Comments

Happy Groundhog Day, the day where normally intelligent people rely on a rodent who supposedly predicts the arrival of spring. I myself have never put much stock in this silliness but it made me wonder where did this madness originate.

Apparently (and unbeknownst to moi), the tradition of consulting a rodent for a sign of an early spring or a late winter stems from the Christian tradition of Candlemas having its roots in pagan observances. Wait, another pagan influence? Ahem…move over Halloween.

“Candlemas was originally a Celtic festival marking the ‘cross-quarter day,’ or midpoint of the season,” according to the Almanac website. With the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox , a sunny day “predicted” the arrival of spring in about 6 weeks. Which, I might point out, is around the same time as the arrival of the spring equinox. Hmm, what a convenient ‘coincidence,’ you say?

Digging into just how we arrived at this annual rouse tradition where rodents predicte spring’s arrival, did you know there are a slew of season-predicting rodents, all from the Eastern part of the US. Probably the most famous of course is Punxsutawney Phil of Pennsylvania, followed by Dunkirk Dave and Staten Island Chuck both of New York, Millville Mel of New Jersey (who recently passed away and efforts to find a replacement were unsuccessful since groundhogs are hibernating this time of year), and Buckeye Chuck from Marion, Ohio. Interestingly this custom seemed to originate in Europe. Seems a bear brought the news to the French and Brits, while Germans looked to a badger for a sign of spring’s arrival. Why they just didn’t refer to the Gregorian calendar is beyond me, but then again…a lot of folklore seems baffling. When German immigrants arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1800’s, they brought the Candlemas legend with them. Pennsylvania being bereft of badgers but finding lots of groundhogs or woodchucks there, well lo and behold, an adaption of the legend came into being. Because a woodchuck is just a small bear, right? 😳

Anyway, I only had to look outside to realize spring ain’t coming any time soon. The Mile High was ‘gifted’ with between 8-12 inches of white stuff with wind chill factors pushing temperatures below zero.

Snow
Just look at that powdery pile!

These sunflower stalks in the front garden are about two feet tall and are pretty much halfway buried. The dogs weren’t very keen on trying to partake of their early morning ritual–going potty. Elsa gave me a look to chill my soul, though she bounced around once she finished while Norman’s eyes seem to ask…”do I really have to?” It’s safe to say today (and probably for the next few days) will be spent more indoors than normal given the brutally cold temps and Norman’s aversion for walking in snow.

If you were hit by this monster storm you already know the rodent’s prognostication wasn’t any kind of newsflash. And to think all we had to do was look at a calendar and not wake up some rodent from the squirrel family who shouldn’t be trusted anyway.

The good news is Friday is just a couple days away though. Stay safe and warm. Happy Hump Day.

Live, love, bark!  🐾

Did You Know Wednesday ~ January 19, 2022

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 81 Comments

While visiting my dad again this week, I couldn’t help but take notice what is often referred to as the Wolf Moon last night. What is a Wolf Moon, you ask? It’s the first moon of January but officially arrived on Monday, Jan. 17, at 6:48 p.m. EST (1148 GMT). Like other full moons, it can be seen for about 3 days. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, its origin comes from Native Americans who often heard wolves howling during cold winter nights  this time of year. The Wolf Moon is also known as the Ice Moon, the Moon after Yule, the Old Moon and the Thaipusam Festival Moon, among other names.

Although I didn’t bring my DSLR for this trip, I thought I’d see if the new cell phone might be able to reasonably capture it. It’s not a great image, but shooting anything in low light conditions without a tripod can be tricky but for a small, convenient device generally held in one’s pocket, it’s not too terribly bad.

Moon

As the first full moon of 2022, it shines brightly in the evening hours. A full moon can impact some dogs who suffer from epilepsy so I always try to be a bit aware of this time every month for Elsa’s sake, in case it triggers a seizure in her.  According to Space.com, a full moon occurs when the moon is exactly on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun and occurs roughly once a month. The timing is determined by where the moon is relative to the Earth rather than where it appears in the sky, which is slightly different depending on where you’re located, according to the website.

Since the full moon is on the opposite side from the sun, folks in the Northern Hemisphere will see it relatively high in the sky (since the moon is in roughly the same position the sun would be during the daytime during summer months). In the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite would be true.

The Wolf Moon may not be the only interesting sight seen in the night sky these days. Jupiter as well as Saturn may also be visible, with Saturn appearing to the lower right above Jupiter at two degrees above the horizon and setting shortly thereafter. With the city’s light pollution, I’d likely need a telescope in order to see them, if at all.

If you missed this month’s full moon, the next one will appear on Wednesday, Feb. 16 and will appear full for about three days, from about midnight Tuesday morning to about midnight Thursday night.

Were you able to catch the 2022 Wolf Moon?

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Happy ‘Howlidays’ from the Ranch Hands

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 51 Comments

While it may be Wordless Wednesday, we’re using this opportunity for sending out our ‘howliday’ greeting with apologies for its lateness. Thank you to everyone who has sent us their greetings; we loved them all. Both Norman and Elsa wish you a  season that is merry and bright.

Feliz Navidog from all of us at the Ranch.

Christmas

Live, love, bark! 🐾