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Árbol del Sol
Thought for the Month I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon.
As all of the readers who follow this website, an attempt was made last month to fill in as many activities for the 2009 SunTree Season as possible. This was done with full knowledge that amendments will be made throughout the year. These amendment will be made as soon as they are forecasted (guessed at) in order for all to both plan their participation and to comment on any conflicts or suggestions. If you look at the What’s Happening section, you will see that a number of changes to the calendar have already been posted. Most of the changes can be attributed to the publication of the activities of The Naturist Society. Two of the changes are SunTree activities. There is time to discuss these if there is a problem. The first SunTree change is in March when we have had to move our St. Patrick’s weekend activities to a closer venue for most of our members. The second change is awhile off (in late August). We have received word from the Roadrunner Naturists that they are planning a houseboat trip on Elephant Butte Lake and SunTree is welcome to participate. I told them that I felt that some of our members would be happy to participate in their event and might be able to help them in their planning since we do have some “lessons learned” experiences which they can take advantage of. More on that later.
Valentine’s Day at Elephant Butte I do not know if the city of Elephant Butte Public Works Department has removed the barricades that they installed in order to discourage SunTree participation in our “Between the Holidays” Event or not. It did not keep the stalwart participants from sneaking through and enjoying the event that time and assume that we will be able to find a way thorough to participate in the Valentine’s Day Feeding Frenzy. This will be a potluck event as usual. With the experience of the December event, it is suggested that each participant will not really need to bring enough food to feed all anticipated participants. The participants in the December event were able to take care of all that was brought, but it was nip and tuck there for awhile. Contact SunTree to let us know if you plan to participate and what you plan to bring. That will allow the hosts to get an idea for what preparation that they need to make.
Last Month's Upstagers have now Moved to the Morning Sky Evening Sky: Two of last month's heros of the evening sky have gone on their way leaving Venus to reign in the western sky this month for the whole month. On the first of the month, Venus is almost half way up the dome of the evening sky and hangs in there for almost four hours before she decides that it is time to turn in for the night. Venus attains its greatest brilliancy at a truly dazzling magnitude -4.8 and spectacularly meets the crescent Moon on 27 February. That bright spot in the southern sky around 8 PM (in the early part of the month) is the big dog named Sirius who is comfortably resting in the constellation of Canis Major. The slightly less bright spot to the right of Sirius and closer to overhead is Rigel who is sitting on Orion's foot. The gibbous Moon passes in front of the Pleiades star cluster on 3 February. It is not very exciting, but it is a super sight if you look at it through binoculars. Saturn now rises at around 8 PM and is well up by 10. Morning: Very low in the predawn sky on 22 February, 40 minutes before sunrise, the Moon forms a line with Mars, Jupiter and Mercury if you are reading from left to right. (I seem to recall them in the evening sky last month). Mercury is observable but mediocre in the east, about 7 degrees high 40 minutes before sunrise from 1 to 17 February.
© 2004 SunTree Travel Club - Site updated Summer 2010 |
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The SunTree Annual Calendar