I read about this yesterday on CNN. It said this is called a perigee moon. This moon is also abut 30% brighter than normal. The next one won't happen until 2029! The effect on the tides will only be an inch or so, but maybe it will pull all the water tables up enough that any rain we might see next week will stay a bit closer to the top. We can hope, right? Sunday also marks the official Vernal Equinox! Sprng is officially here! Monday morning, when the Sun rises, it will be straight-up in the east, and set straight down in the West. Longer days are here! Chandra, dining by moonlight? (sigh...) How romantic. But today, I've got to plant my newly purchased cauliflower before the "waning" of the moon the next 2 weeks. Paula

Well, it seems there is something larger and more ominous at work here. The trees in our yard, almost all of the oaks, are dead or dying. There must be something like 8 or 9 totally dead and that many more now in various stages of disease. They all seem infested with galls once they finally keel over, but I have read that galls don't kill a tree and assume then that this is a consequence of the disease and not a cause. We procrastinated about having the service come in and take the hazard trees out and now I am glad we did because it's going to be an ongoing thing. I guess the only recourse is to call someone from the agricultural extension office about coming out to check for blight or oak wilt or something, and from what I have read about these diseases there is really not much that can be done. Like I have mentioned before, our yard is not like a tree here and a tree there interspersed with grass---it's nothing BUT trees. 20 acres of them to be exact. But that's getting ready to change because regardless of the cause, when these dying ones are down the canopy is sure going to be different. I've become a shade-loving creature and that will certainly be a big change. I wonder what is happening here. And if it's oak wilt,any diseased tree can pass the pathogen on to the next through the roots, so we could possibly be looking at a huge loss of trees here.

Patti, yes, I guess a leaky heart should be looked into. And loved your approach to the doctor! Way to go! You must be SO proud of your SIL and that whole family! That's doggoned impressive! And thrilled for your son and getting his bride-to-be back here, a little nervous about her getting in without any glitches. Exciting times for you! Does she speak Mandarin?? What part of China is she from? I just did cart seeds inside for the first time last year. It was surprisingly easy with the good help of all our smart friends here. They were even more help advising where and when and what to plant and filling the raised beds. Last year, I had no idea how to tell what I wanted in a tomato or pepper (or anything else--I'm sure you all remember my ignorance); I have learned so much from you all in the past year; and I had to laugh at Rebecca saying that she bet I wouldn't buy seed from (I don't know who it was, some big box company). And it IS true that I've become very uppity about seed companies--but it's all y'all's fault! You know it is. I didn't get started on seed-planting today, Dawn. Maybe tomorrow. We are still staying away from: church, and schools. So maybe I'll get up and begin tending the garden for God. :) I'm a little bit freaked about IT, too. I bet all of you who have only recently started all the seed-growing stuff are feeling about like I am. . . So technically, this is only my second year. But it was so easy last year, I'm not too freaked out. Mostly by the nightmares of potting up, the taking all those flats out every morning, bringing them all back in in the evenings. Too funny. It's like running an orphanage, pet shelter, daycare. Constant attention, right? I'm thrilled that in what is going into my 4th year here, I have SO many perennials, self-seeding annuals, and shrubs going. SO appreciated the additional info on drip irrigation tubing. I'm still on the edge, there. I think I will maybe NOT do it in the flower beds, cept for the cement block raised one, and the raised veggie beds. Maybe soaker hoses, though. I really don't much care about the worry over sprinklers getting leaves wet, when I remember the 20" of rain we got May into July for two years in a row. The saving money part, sure. But I have those oscillating sprinklers, so can narrow down the watering to the immediate bed being watered. That's gotta help some. HJ and Dawn both posted while I was starting on this, so had to change windows to see what they had to say. lol Liked the way you tied Rh into gardening, HJ. Very creative. And now, HJ, and I am very worried about your babies since dogs seem to be about. (Which is one of the two main reasons we won't have them--the other being times we have to go to Wy or Mn.) Amy, I had to google the car accident you mentioned. How very sad. They still haven't released the names. We only go to Wahoo Bay occasionally, because you know my distaste for traveling. It's probably 25-30 miles from our house--as you know, we're north and east of Wagoner by 10 miles; Wahoo is south and east of Wagoner by about 15. We go down there a couple times each summer. Actually, that's where GDW is going to crappie fish--a nice heated dock not too far north of Wahoo. And he is on a mission now. We got his moon jigs, his special bobbers should be showing up Tuesday, and then he just KNOWs he'll be catching all kinds of crappies. That was funny, you mentioning your Mom ears. I have them, too, with the new kitties. Speaking of them. . . . uh oh, I fear they are into their teens, full blown. Jerry's actually the troublemaker; but Tom is the dangerously funny one. They were both obsessed with getting into the pantry, because of the hole in the wall where the water lines are. But mostly because it's a shut door. If a door is shut, that's where they want to go. Garry fixed the door once (previously it shut and stayed shut, but didn't latch.) But didn't fix it good enough apparently. Last night, one of the cats came racing in here with a prize--my brand new fancy dancy fuzzy "feather duster." Score!, he thought, and you could all but see them doing "high 5's" about it. All I could do was laugh. The fuzzy part is a foot long, and then has a wood handle that's another foot long. Hysterical. So I put it back and shut the door. This morning before I was up, GDW got to witness the same thing. But so, he FIXED the door good today. The cats are so ticked off. BUT, now, I fear the cabinets are next, as Tom was interested in seeing in what was one of them when I opened it today. . . and they, of course, do not latch. You could almost see the little light bulbs going off in his head. They've been rowdy today. . . SO rowdy. So funny. They're both also SO affectionate. I plunked Tom down 4 times earlier today when he was being obnoxious and in my face (AFTER I gave him 15 minutes of uninterrupted time), and four times he jumped back instantly. But he also has been in either GDW's lap or mine every time we have sat down today.

The size of how big the moon appears is all optical illusion. It depends on the things surrounding your view of it and the position in the sky. The mind's eye sees the sky as a dome. So the moon overhead appears further away and seems smaller than the moon at the horizon, when in fact, the moon overhead is closer to you by the earth's radius than it is at the horizon. I remember driving home from work one night and the moon seemed so large when I saw it through the trees...I turned a corner and the trees weren't there and suddenly it was much smaller.