Autumn

Autumn comes in the time of
Year,
When Winter's Snows
Are
Quite, quite near!
  
      Ellen Tsagaris, Age 10




            Autumn has finally come; it is cold, and crisp, and the nights dark and early.  Finally, the leaves have changed, the apples taste crisper.  Coffee not only warms; it insulates


The colors are glowing, vibrant as the leaves die their slow, beautiful death.  My hand clutches, feeling the paint brush that isn't there, but once was.  I painted and photographed autumn frantically when I was young.   Here are some public domain and clip art images for your to enjoy; be sure to breathe deeply when the air is cool, and the sun is bright.


Remember collecting leaves - pressing them in books.  I have leaves that are older than I am, or at least, as old.  They live in my big, leather bound book of animals, itself a collectible.  Maybe it was gathering leaves and ironing them between sheets of wax paper that lead me to collecting dolls-- who knows!!




"Nothing Gold can Stay!"


Fall Vignettes


Fall Romance
Harvest Scene

Here comes Halloween! Some Fun Images

Top Five Favorite Antique Parian Dolls | Ruby Lane Blog

Top Five Favorite Antique Parian Dolls | Ruby Lane Blog

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Award Winning Dolls from the Texas State Fair

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: Award Winning Dolls from the Texas State Fair: Sent by my friend and colleague, Jeff G., a Renaissance Man

The Solar Eclipse and Maria Mitchell

The Solar Eclipse and Maria Mitchell

By Ellen Tsagaris

Popular Astronomy Club

Also
Appeared in The Moline Dispatch

2017 Eclipse Public Domain

 

On March 20, 2015, the next solar eclipse will be visible.  NASA’s Solar Eclipse Page provides tables of past and future solar eclipses, along with graphics and other pertinent information. 

 

A solar eclipse takes place, of course, when the moon passes between the sun and the earth.  Once this occurs, the moon partially or totally hides the sun.  Then, the moon casts a shadow on the earth.

 

For a solar eclipse to occur there must be a new moon because the eclipse can only take place during the phase of the new moon, which makes it possible for the moon to cast its shadow on the earth.

 

Such an event has been billions of years in the making, truly awesome when one considers that since its formation almost 4.5 billion years ago, the moon has been steadily pulling away from the earth. According to Space.com, the moon has been moving away from the earth by about 1.6 inches each year.  Furthermore, the writers at Space.com point out that “right now the moon is at the perfect distance to appear in our sky exactly the same size as the sun, and therefore block it out. “

 

The Bible mentions a solar eclipse in Amos 8: 9, “I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the Earth in the clear day.”  Other references from Ancient China and Nineveh have also been documented. 

 

Most solar eclipses are very short, with some of the longest recorded at 7 minutes 31 seconds. During this time, the corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun, is visible.

 

The March eclipse will not be visible in the Quad City area, unfortunately. A total solar eclipse will be visible in Svalbard, Norway and the Faroe Islands, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible in Europe, northern and eastern Asia and northern and western Africa

Maria Mitchell, Public Domain

 

The last solar eclipse was only a partial eclipse and occurred on October 23, 2014.

 

Celebrated astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) made the study of solar eclipses her specialty.  Mitchell was born to Quaker parents who believed in educating equally their sons and daughters.  She learned to love astronomy through helping her father, and one evening, she helped him calculate their home’s position by observing a solar eclipse. Mitchell became famous after she discovered a comet in 1847.  The King of Denmark awarded her a gold medal for her discovery of the comet.  In 1856, Mitchell became a professor of astronomy at Vassar College.

 

Maria Mitchell was an admired and beloved teacher who inspired her students and believed woman could achieve the same accomplishments that men did, if they could only be given a chance.  She believed creativity and science worked well together, and one quote attributed to her reads: “We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.”

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!!

Reynard the Fox

I saw the neighborhood fox, a beautiful little person, indeed.  It had little black footies, [ok, it was too cute!] The lovely tail, alert expression, soft red coat.  It trotted across the street  between house, happily stalking who knows what!  The other fox in the area was pale and small in comparison, and its ears were not as perky or pointed.  The same is true of the Carbondale fox who stopped traffic at a 4-way stop by Kroger; everyone stood still until it crossed safely. 


The way it scampered in the brisk, cool fall air that finally came to us was inspiring.  Long may our little fox trot, and long may he live among us.


Our other neighbors include a chipmunk who lives in a doll buggy I use in outdoor displays, several bunnies we helped raise by saving their nests, the very naughty raccoons, an occasional pheasant and wild turkey, our birds, including a woodpecker, the 12th avenue Bald Eagles, a few hawks.  Once or twice,  I've seen a coyote. We get holiday cards from some of our neighbors, especially the squirrels that scamper in front of the picture window, just to upset my strictly indoor cats!!

Public Domain