Strawberry Moon in June

Hello, Friends!

For some reason, I just can’t wrap my head around today being the 165th day of the year. Seems like it ought to be upwards of 500 days by now. This year has been rather eventful. How’s your year going so far?

Did anyone catch that magnificent Strawberry moon? Once it crowned the shadowed summits, its rising speed accelerated until it took up the entire sky – I swear – in a matter of seconds! Since strawberries aren’t native to Europe, they call their full moon (in June) the Rose moon.  In 2014, our Strawberry moon was deemed ‘extremely rare’ because it rose on the night of Friday the 13^th. That hadn’t happened since 1919. Experts say it shouldn’t happen again till 2098. But how do they know? And what if it does?

Luckily, there’s no Friday the 13^th on tap for us this month. That’s because June didn’t begin on a Sunday this year – in case anyone keeps up with that kind of thing.

Everyone knows you won’t find a button for the 13^th floor in an elevator. Last week I re-verified that fact while trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. I’d have taken the stairs had I known where the hospital keeps them 😉   The weight capacity for service elevators is 1200 – 1400 lbs. Naturally, I thought of this while stepping on the scale this morning. No worries, I’m still only slightly heavier than your average newborn hippopotamus.

For anyone who wasn’t aware, the United States Post Office decreed on June 14, 1920, that the age-old practice of mailing the kids to Grandma’s for the summer would no longer be tolerated. Oh sure, it was always frowned upon. But it was just so cute; most rural postmasters didn’t mind, and parcel post was a lot cheaper than a train ticket. Besides, as long as the child weighed 10 lbs. or less, you didn’t have to provide a chaperone…I have questions regarding feeding times and diaper changes that apparently didn’t bother parents in those days. I also have trust issues. At any rate, since you’ll have to drive the kids yourself, why not call it a road trip and make it an adventure?

Should your travels bring you into my neck o’ the woods (I-10 between Casa Grande and Tucson), stretch your legs at Picacho Peak or pet the stingrays at (nearby) Rooster Cogburn’s Ostrich Farm.

If anyone was following our Battle of the Bands on the first of every month, you can find me (as well as links to the rest of the group) at Landmark Sounds – and hey, new members are welcome! Also, feel free to join us at Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) on the first Wednesday of every month. My IWSG blog is at Pensive Pens.

Happy Trails, everyone!