A possible thaw! Lunar names! Poking fun at politicians!

This morning I went out for a run for the first time in a week. Well, I ran and then I walked on slippy places and then I ran some more. It’s noticeably less cold. You couldn’t really say “warmer” because, despite temperatures now officially being just above 0°, it still feels very cold. But cars parked outside our house (parked by the way on double yellow lines which the drivers ignore) had heavily frosted windscreens at 8.00 this morning but clear windscreens by late morning. Perhaps a thaw is on the way!

We have had some beautiful sunny days during the very cold spell, inevitably followed by some clear nights. As a result we have been able to see the moon making its bright way towards full. Look carefully and you can see the almost full moon rising over the hill in the late afternoon the other day. 

Apparently the first full moon of the year is known as the wolf moon. Who knew? So tomorrow night we will have a wolf moon. I have this information about from a newspaper article, from one of the region’s local papers. 

This article told me, courtesy of Professor Christopher Collins, an emeritus astrophysics professor from Liverpool John Moores University, that “Other names for the January full moon include the Old Moon and the Ice Moon, which reflects the frozen landscape of the season.” It certainly reflects the current frozen landscape. 

The article went on to give me this information:

“The Wolf Moon gets its name from Native American tribes, who often heard wolves howling during the cold winter nights, when the animals are more active.

This name eventually made its way across the Atlantic to Europe, where it was adopted by medieval settlers.”

Oh, dear! I rather suspect that the writer needs to check her time line there! Or maybe the Native American people discovered Europe long ago, well before Columbus sailed the ocean blue in the opposite direction. 

Thinking of who discovered and named different countries, here is an updated map of America. 

And here is a cartoon, from the New Yorker magazine I think, with suggestions for places America might like to purchase, or indeed obtain by other means. 

Politicians don’t like to be mocked, or even just referred to in a less than flattering manner. Liz Truss has apparently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Keir Starmer because he said she crashed the economy. Hmm! Here is one response to that.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!