Hello! And Welcome! I’m Eppinese Estelle your hostess. I hope you are well.
July is nearly here! Do you remember the old saying regarding corn? A good crop of corn was always ‘knee high by the 4th of July”. I’ve always thought that was rather subjective. I mean, different heights of people have different knee heights…If I would say it is my knee height, it wouldn’t be very tall…
Why is it that when I find something that I like as in a computer program or even extending to a favorite perfume it either gets switched around totally from what I originally purchased the program to do or the perfume is discontinued…Yes, I recently had a computer program switch to a membership site and the program no longer works the way it had when I purchased it. I don’t have anything against anyone making money online but sometimes it gets really frustrating! Always something to keep you floundering around it seems.
Remember last time when I mentioned the VW “slug bug” commercial? Well, granted I have only seen it once, but there is a VW commercial incorporating the two slugs back if you don’t call it correctly…But it still is not for a VW Beetle – the original “Slug Bug”. Oh well, I’m a creature of habit….
On July 11 there will be at total eclipse of the Sun. This eclipse will not be visible from North America. It will be visible only from the South Pacific
Ocean and parts of South America.
Next Total Eclipse of the Sun
Next Total Eclipse of the Sun: November 13, 2012: visible from northern Australia and the South Pacific Ocean.
The Moon’s path across the sky changes
with the seasons. Full Moons are very high
in the sky (at midnight) between November
and February and very low between May
and July.
Not since 1963 has Jupiter been so close, so bright,
so easily seen—a result of its slow, oval orbit around
the Sun that will take nearly 12 Earth years.
Finding Jupiter should be easy. Beginning in
mid-August, look halfway up the southern sky for
the night’s brightest star. This is Jupiter! Dazzling
and astonishingly conspicuous against the faint
stars of Pisces, it will stand at its highest at 2:00
A.M. (In July, early birds can catch a glimpse at
4:00 A.M.)
As the year winds down, Jupiter will be at
its best earlier each month: at midnight in September
(look for green Uranus hovering nearby
in midmonth), at 10:00 P.M. in October, at 7:00
P.M. in November, and at nightfall in December.
Exactly 400 years ago, Galileo
Galilei (1564–1642) and
Jupiter changed the order of
the universe.
By around 1608, spyglasses
and magnifying devices
had become popular. Duplicating
one such instrument,
Galileo had painstakingly fashioned
wood and leather into a tube into
which he set one concave and one convex
glass lens. The result was a refracting
telescope with three-power
(3×) magnification.
Galileo’s device showed the Moon, long thought to be smooth actually had craters and mountains. The glow of the Milky Way burst into separate stars. The most amazing sight was Jupiter shining brightly in Taurus and it was round! Not just a pinpoint of light.
Galileo published his discoveries.
Instead of being cheered, he was jeered.
Church officials detained him,
forced him to recant (or be burned at the
stake), and placed him under permanent
house arrest, where he eventually died on
January 8, 1642, penniless. (paraphrasing from Bob Berman’s most recent book, coauthored with
Robert Lanza, M.D., is Biocentrism (BenBella,
2009). Learn more about Berman’s universe at
www.skymanbob.com.
Watching the Skies in July: (sort of rhymes doesn’t it?) Earth reaches its farthest point from the Sun, on the 6th. Venus finally budges in brightness, up from magnitude –3.9, where it’s been stuck since January, to –4.0.
Changes will now come more rapidly. Although Venus keeps widening its angular separation from the Sun, its orbit appears at an increasingly low slant on the western horizon. Result: The brilliant planet is lower at dusk than it was a month ago, as it passes Regulus on the 9th and 10th. Venus approaches Mars as Mars approaches Saturn. Low in the west an hour after sunset in the final days of July, Mars passes below Saturn and is the dimmer of the two.
Dog Days (July 3–August 11): These
are the hottest and most unhealthy days of
the year. Also known as Canicular Days,
their name derives from the Dog Star, Sirius.
The traditional 40-day period of Dog
Days coincides with the rising of Sirius at sunrise.
There are lots of ‘old wives tales’ about the dog days of summer. Don’t go swimming in rivers because they turn over and if you have a sore and go swimming during dog days it will get infected or your will die. But, being a kid I had to find out for myself.
My friend and I went swimming in the river and we found out; yes, the water does get all nasty (I don’t know what it means when they say “the river will turn over” unless they are speaking of all the guck from the bottom comes to the top) and the water was dirty, mud brown. As we were swimming something would brush us on the leg and it was, “I hope that was a fish, or a branch or leaf.” Then pretty soon you would see a shed snake skin go floating down river and it was, “Okay…I’m done…I’m outta here!”
Best Days in July to:
Quit smoking: July 1, 6, 28
Begin diet to lose weight: July 1, 6, 28
Begin diet to gain weight: July 15, 19
Cut hair to discourage growth: 6, 7, 29, and 30
Cut hair to encourage growth: 12, 13, 17, 18
Go camping: 21, 22
Best fishing: July 11–25
Many thanks to the Old Farmer’s Almanac
In summer everyone faces a danger – a form of hyperthermia called Heat Stroke.
Hyperthermia is an abnormally elevated (hyper) body temperature accompanied with physical and neurological symptoms. Heat stroke is a true medical emergency that can be fatal if not promptly and properly treated.
Heat cramps and heat exhaustion are less severe forms of hyperthermia. Although neither one are fun.
Normally when the body generates heat it is usually able to dissipate that heat through radiation of heat through the skin or through the evaporation of perspiration.
Extreme heat, high humidity or vigorous exercise can set up conditions where your body’s core temperature rises and is unable to dissipate it.
Dehydration is another cause of heat stroke. If you are dehydrated you will be unable to sweat fast enough to dissipate the heat.
Those that are most susceptible to heat strokes are:
The elderly
Those with heart diseases, lung diseases, kidney diseases
The very young
People taking medications that make them vulnerable to heat stroke
Athletes
People working outside that physically exert themselves under the sun
If you exercise outdoors, do not do it during the hottest part of the day – noon time, 3-4 pm
Drink a glass of water prior to exercise, and then drink some water every fifteen minutes while exercising. Your urine should be clear. If it isn’t then start drinking water.
Also, please, if you love your animals do not take them in the car with you. Even if you leave your pet in the car with the windows cracked they will die from the heat within 3 minutes. The interior of a car shoots up to over 100 degrees in that time. It will fry their brain and they will die. Please, for their sake, leave them at home.
Make sure they have plenty of fresh, clean water too.
If you do suspect you or your pet are having some kind of heat prostration immediately get in the shade or go inside. A cold shower or cold compress to the back of the neck will help lower your core temperature.
I also would like to share a website with you:
Of course I highly recommend ConsumerWorld.org
Among some of the wonderful tidbits this week I found this pertinent article:
Clean that bag
The report on reusable grocery bags by researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University in California makes these recommendations for lawmakers and tips for consumers:
– States should consider requiring printed instructions on reusable bags indicating that they need to be cleaned or bleached between uses.
– State and local governments should invest in a public education campaign to alert the public about risk and prevention.
– Consumers should be careful to separate raw foods from other food products.
– Consumers should not use reusable bags for purposes other than grocery shopping, such as carrying books or gym clothes.
– Consumers should not store meat or produce in their car trunks because the high temperatures promote bacteria growth, which can contaminate reusable bags.
Source: University of Arizona
I think that is about all for this time. Take care and I hope to see you at the next Coffee Klatsch.
