Annular Eclipse

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There was an eclipse today in some parts of the world. Not here though. This was an annular eclipse, where the moon doesn’t fully cover the sun and leaves a ring of sun shining behind the moon.

So why does this happen. In normal eclipses the moon appears to be the same size as the sun so its completely covered. That is because the moon is something like 40 times smaller than the sun, but also 40 times closer to us. So they have the same apparent size in the sky. But with an annular eclipse the Sun can be slightly closer or the moon slightly father away. Why? Because the Earth rotates round the Sun in an ellipse, which is an oval with two focal points. The sun sits on one focus, but the Earth orbits around both. That means sometimes it is further away from the sun and sometimes closer Then it also means the moon is further away from the sun or slightly closer to it. The moon rotates round the earth in the same way in an elliptical orbit. So sometimes it is closer to, and sometimes further away. If you add the two positions up further to the sun and further away from the earth you get an annular eclipse.

I can’t explain it more clearly. It is most difficult to think your way through how it works but I hope this makes sense.

Rushing tide

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Up the channel between the islands, rushed the tide, waves pushed along the coast, great groynes had been built to stop the long shore drift washing sand along it. Seagulls swooped overhead, floating on the updrafts, silently drifting over the heads of people walking up the salty sands, scoping out victims who had ice creams or bags of chips.

The storm came out of the West, flying clouds darkening, scudding across the sky. The wind rose and fell, rose again, howling. Churning up the sea into foam, like whipped cream, the tops of the waves  were being torn off by the winds, waves curled up and over, crashing onto the beach.

A memory of Mount Fuji, the picture of it with crashing waves. That was what it was like. The lighthouse along the coast was flashing, two short flashes, then a gap as the light rotated. Seaweed was torn from its beds, wood and ripped nets were cast up on the shore. The tide rose and swamped the town. Streets were flooded. Life takes note of the raging waves.

This is all in the future. Now there is rushing water, soon there will be storm force winds.

Christmas walk

I took lots of photos of our walk on the beach but the WiFi I’m using isn’t very good so here are just a few shots. Obviously the dog walkers like the beach. It was clean, with lots of sea shells and stones and we didn’t see any plastic there which was great.

A lot of sand had washed up onto the promenade. I asked a local and they said there have been some severe storms recently. Luckily today there were white horses on the sea (rolling white waves) but the tide was out.

 

Room at the Inn

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So, that’s two adults?

There is a donkey parking space.

Breakfast in the Nativity Restaurant.

Double bed, en-suite.

No smoking or vaping,

No visitors from afar allowed.

No ‘angelic hosts’ parties allowed.

Visur or Masterboard?

What do you mean ‘a child will be born’?

No we don’t do Frankincense or Myhrr facials.

Gold, well yes as an exception we will accept it.

You want how many towels, and hot water?

I’m sorry but your wife looks unwell.

We are not a maternity unit.

Sorry, we reserve the right to cancel your reservation.

The hospital is that way.

Merry Christmas.

Why are there foodbanks?

sketch-1577233161543.jpgThis might be someone’s meal today, tonight, next week. They may be on a low income, on benefits or state handouts. They might be in a refugee camp trying to flee from famine or oppression.

Coming closer to home, in a land that is the sixth richest in the World and where many more billionaires live than ever before, the number of Foodbanks here over the last few years have soared, from a handful ten years ago to more of them than McDonald’s outlets now! There are around two THOUSAND Foodbanks in this country now. Let that sink in. And people using them are only allowed two or three referrals in a six month period. That referral gives them emergency food for three or four days. They are used when someones benefit has been cancelled or delayed. I know about them because I used to refer people into them. I had to jump through hoops to get a referral for them. Often I came up against the arguments about whether they were deserving enough. I would be talking to a decision maker who would criticise the person’s ability to budget a paltry amount of money that the decision maker could not possibly have lived on themselves.

My question again is why are there Foodbanks? Why are the poorest in society forgotten? Why do the rich think it’s OK to look down on the poor? Remember that it is only by luck that we are born into the lives we have.

 

Merry Christmas x

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You may or may not be celibrating Christmas, but can I wish you a happy  and peaceful Christmas and send seasons greetings. It may not be the best time of the year for many of us. But at least if people take a little time to think about others then things might improve in the world.

Not everyone is religious and the season does not have the same meaning for everyone. That doesn’t mean that anyone should be excluded from good wishes.

It’s difficult to write about this as I am agnostic, I am not sure what I believe, but I think respecting others is what I am getting at. There are too many wars and fighting. Sending love.

 

Christmas Carol re-written

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I’ve just seen the third and final episode of a Christmas Carol, adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens, but with much more details and ‘plot twists’.

Gone is the vaguely cute Scrooge of the original, who is somehow not that nasty, at least compared with this Scrooge. But there is more back story about what caused his intransigence and avarice. There is also much more about what he and Jacob Marley did to his employees, the evil actions that harmed them.

On the whole this was a much more adult adaptation, including swear words and sexual exploitation. Once I got over the fact that it was more of a rewrite than an adaptation I actually enjoyed it. Scrooge does not end up gloriously happy (spoiler alert), but he is changed and his attitude to others is improved. It feels like there might even be a sequel!

What a faff!

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Faff! Not sure what it means but we are faffing about. Staying at a hotel. Breakfast and lunch for Christmas day, but no evening meal. I have asked about room service, they don’t have any. I know I’m faffing, but I have to eat regularly because I have to take tablets with  every meal. (I know I’m very lucky not to live in the majority of the world where one meal is very rare).

I guess I could have worse problems. Its only when you think about them that you realise how very trivial they are!