Árbol del Sol
Volume 13, Number 6, September 2006
A Publication of the SunTree Travel Club
SunTree Travel Club is an affiliate of The American Association for Nude Recreation
(AANR), AANR-West, the International Naturist Federation
and The Naturist Society

Thought for the Month
If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

The SunTree Traveler

August Activities

The Swim Event in El Paso
The swim event was great. We did not have to tolerate the rains this time as we did the last time when the rainy season turned on with a full vengeance.  There were rain clouds in the area making threats to deluge us, but it did not happen while we were there.

The pool and hot tub were absolutely beautifully clear and the temperature was wonderful. Oh, yes, we did have some food also.

We will be back in El Paso in September. Maybe this time, we will have clear skies as well as clear pool water.

That Unfortunate Camping Trip
The Labor day Weekend camping trip has turned out to be sort of dull and uneventful. It is not because of the boring mountains or forests. It is not because of the constant danger of forest fires.

It is because nobody can get away from their obligations to get there. The rainy season was able to eliminate the fire danger and several SunTree folks had intentions to go, but in the end, it turned out that conflicting obligations is destroying the turnout.

Attendance is expected to be zero, but not for lack of interest.

September Club Doings

16 de Septembre in Splash Mode in El Paso.
Once again the SunTree gang has been invited to El Paso for another club event there. It will be a potluck event and a swimming party. There is a large swimming pool with a waterfall into it from the large hot tub. It is a great place for our events and very gracious hosts as well.

Be prepared for a nice event.

September Celestial Events

That bright star just above the moon on the last day of August was Antares.

Morning events: Fading Venus is dropping lower into the eastern horizon each morning. If you want to see it, look early in the month.

Saturn, on the other hand, will be rising just ahead of the morning pre-dawn twilight. The Moon will keep it company on 18 Sept.

Non-events: A partial lunar eclipse will happen 7 Sept can not be seen from North America.

Evening events: You will have to use binoculars to see “bright” Uranus in the eastern skies after twilight has faded on 5 Sept. Bright light from the nearby Moon will make it difficult to see the green planet. It is the brightest that it will be for the year, but with the Moon interfering, it will not be easy to see.

For the naked eye viewer, Jupiter alone remains in the evening sky, but it will be dropping lower into the western horizon each night as the month progresses.

On the 22, the Moon will be at the apogee of its orbital path. On that date, the Moon will be at its farthest from the Earth for the year, 248,000 miles.

The big spectacle of this month will not be individual stars or planets, but the fantastic display of our own personal galaxy, the Milky Way. It will be up every evening, splitting the midnight sky from 18 through 24 Sept.

General annual events for this month: Autumn will officially begin with the equinox on 22 Sept at 10:03 MDT (that will happen on 23 Sept in the east where many calendars tend to be printed). That, interestingly enough is the Vernal Equinox for those readers of this newsletter who live south of the equator. Their Spring is springing on that day.

SunTree is not planning any meteor showers this month. Sorry about the clouds getting scheduled in last month along with the full moon to mess up the Persied Shower about mid-month. We will have some words with the scheduler.

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