[SunTree members Dick and Jeanette took a Bare Necessities cruise from California to Hawaii and back. Here are some of their comments which they would like to share with the SunTree family. Does anybody wish to make that Greece cruise into a club event?]

Jeanette and I just returned from the Bare Necessities Hawaii trip. We had a great time and the cruise food is just like a Suntree get together---too much, too good, too often. Surprisingly the last two days were quite cool. With the wind and movement of the ship it was uncomfortable to sit outside nude. Great time anyway.

Should anyone in the group be interested, BN still has some openings for the Greece trip which we will be going on in Aug. They may be negotiable in pricing, if interested give them a call.

Mother’s Day (delayed) at Mira Vista RESORT

We are again planning to visit the Mira Vista RESORT for the weekend following Mother’s Day, 15 – 16 May. We started going after the Mother’s Day weekend so that we would not interfere with the club events of the Mira Vista RESORT. There will still be plenty to do the following weekend. They may even have their pools full of water.

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In the April newsletter, I made an error, but I refuse to accept total blame for it. World Naked Gardening Day is supposed to be the first Saturday of every May. This year, the first Saturday happens to be 1 May, so I made the dumb assumption that we would be out in the altogether that day, pulling weeds. Apparently, this year, the first Saturday of May falls on 8 May. Maybe that schedule is like election day (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November) and it is the first Saturday after the first Friday in May.

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We have had a few people who have expressed interest in the camping trip to Wildwood in June. We have also had some communication with far more people who are concerned that the weather has delayed the spring runoff and there is still a major size snow pack in the mountains upstream from Wildwood. Last year, the camping trip to Wildwood was a lot of fun, but it did get somewhat sloppy thanks to rain. With that memory in mind, I have removed the 5 June event at Wildwood from the calendar. If enough people contact SunTree with hopes of reinstating it, that will be considered. We still have an event on the calendar for a camping event at Wildwood on the weekend of 28 August. With lack of communication to SunTree, that could also be cancelled. I personally hope not.

Celestial News for May

Evening: Mars is still fading as it has for the last several months. He is still trying, though.

This month, Mars will be only a little bit brighter than the blue star Regulus to its left at midmonth, visible in the evening sky. The Moon will help you find Mars, by taking a stand near Mars on 19 May.

On the other hand, Venus keeps its steady brightness for months as it slowly ascends higher each evening at dusk to stand above the crescent Moon on 15 May.

The following week, on 22 May, the Moon will aid your viewing as it floats below Saturn. Blue Regulus will be to the right of Saturn that evening.

Mars and Saturn have a continuing mutual admiration connection since through the month, both are precisely the same brightness fading together in beautiful choreography.

Morning: On 9 May, that bright spot just below the Moon in the eastern sky just before sunrise is Jupiter. Those faint stars up and to the left of the crescent Moon form a square which is known as the Great Square of Pegasus.

Meteors?

Last month, I mentioned that April is the most active meteor month in the early part of the year, but that is somewhat of an exaggeration since most of the showers are not very spectacular. I have also mentioned in the past that the extent of meteor showers is really difficult to predict. Both of those really came true in April. Several folks in the northern mid-west had some spectacular meteor sightings. One was even captured on the camera in a police car. For that reason, I will mention here that May does have a number of meteor showers and they are mostly (to use a technical astronomy term) somewhat Ho-Hum on the excitement scale. Who knows what those sneaky meteors have in mind for May.