Thought for the Month:

When nude in a natural environment, there is a mutual vulnerability. Lee Baxandall

The weekend after to Mother’s Day (14 – 15 May) when SunTree will return to the Mira Vista RESORT for soaking, swimming, eating and pot lucking.

Once again room 23 has been reserved for our Satruday afternoon get together with whatever snacks you wish to bring to the gathering.  That get together should occur around 3 PM.

We have once again reserved the entire Wildwood Retreat Center and Resort for SunTree on the first weekend of June (3 - 5).

If you remember last year, we advanced upon that resort on the weekend before Labor Day Weekend. The weather was perfect, but as you who have lived here know very well, I cannot guarantee that the weather will be the same this year.  We can only hope

Once again, your newsletter editor (in the name of the club) has made a deposit to hold the area and we will have to cancel or lose the deposit. As with last year, SunTree will pay for the facility using money that the participants will pay to the club. If we do not get enough commitments prior to 17 May, we will cancel the event rather than swallow the loss. Please contact the club as soon as you are aware that you wish to participate in this event.

To illustrate the importance of this, I wish to repeat our club’s experience for our plans for a spring event last year at Wildwood:

After the newsletter went out reporting the cancellation of the event, we had several phone calls and e-mails complaining that we had cancelled the camping trip which (as with most of our events) was in our annual schedule published in the January newsletter as well as was on the club website.

Since we got no information from enough people interested in going to this Wildwood event, we made the assumption that there was no interest. Not wanting to pay the full amount (out of my own pocket) with no confidence that anyone would show up, the event was cancelled.

The up to date information on this event will not be included in the club newsletter since the conditions which affect the event tend to change quickly and the newsletter is only published once a month.  Those who contact SunTree to express interest in this event will be put on a “campers distribution” list to receive updated information as it becomes available.  Those who pay the participation fee will be fully refunded if we have to cancel.  A minimum number of attendees has been set in order that the fees as split among the participants will be reasonable.  If we go over that minimum number, all participants will get change according to the final number.

One bit of information that normally is a last-minute fear inducing fact is the fire danger.  When the reservation was made for the resort, SunTree was told that there will be no fires allowed.  If there is adequate rain, that might change, but May is not known as a traditionally wet month.

Celestial News for May

Evening: Saturn is now nicely up in the east at nightfall, glorious all night long.

The Moon passes a good distance below Saturn on 13 May stands near Scorpio’s famous orange star Antares on the night of 16 May.

If you look for Saturn in the late part of the month, you will find him in the southern sky about halfway between the horizon and the tent-pole at the top of the dome of the sky.  Just to the left of Saturn and a little closer to the horizon is the star Spica glowing in a light blue color.  Above Saturn and a little bit further to the left is the bright golden yellow star Arcturus.  In zodiacal positions, Arcturus is located in the constellation of  Bootes (the Herdsman) and Spica is located in the constellation of Virgo (the Maiden).  The word “spica” refers to the ear of wheat that the maiden is holding in her hand.  Supposedly, with her other hand she is sowing springtime grain, but my imagination is not keen enough to see that.

Morning: Remember last month when I told you about that big predawn party in the morning sky that Saturn was not invited to?  Well, it is still going on.  From 10 to 13 May, 35 minutes before sunrise, the residual planet party is now more easily seen in Miami and points south, but if you have a clear view of the eastern horizon, you can make out this party at about 4 degrees above the horizon in SunTree country. 

The Moon, as a crescent floats just above the four planet grouping in the predawn east on 30 May.

On 21 May at that former party predawn location, Venus stays in hopes of continuing that party.  She is still fading in her brightness.  On that morning, she forms a difficult to see, low acute triangle with Mercury and dim Mars.