RenoVous

  Today is the Lunar New Year - Year of the Ox. The lunisolar calendar is traditional to many east Asian countries including China, South Korea, and Vietnam. Each time the moon moves into a line with the sun and the earth, a new month begins.  When the full moon appears, it is the middle of the month. Li Chun, the beginning of the Spring, is the first solar term and the first lunar month.  This date varies between January 20th and February 20th.  (See upper right side in above chart). The lunar calendar dates back to the Xia and Shang Dynasties, around the 16th century BC.  One was found in Scotland, which has been dated to 8000 BC.  Even before calendars, ancient hunters were no doubt observing the moon phases for time-measuring. The lunar calendar is also used to determine religious holidays such as Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew), Buddha's Birthday (Buddhist), Diwali (Hindu), and Ramadan (Islamic). The Gregorian calendar most commonly used today is a solar calend...

 It's the time of year when bald eagles are nesting. Sauces Canyon, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park. The mama eagle is Audacity, and she has three eggs.  Dad is Jak. They should hatch sometime next month, so we'll definitely be checking back in. The nest is about 56 feet above the ground and is estimated to weigh 2100 pounds! Breeding bald eagles were eliminated in this area in the 1960's due to chemicals such as DDT.  2006 was the first time one was born unaided by humans since that population collapse.  As of 2015, there are over 60 resident bald eagles on the island. The island is 76% Nature Conservancy and 24% National Park Service.  It is 24 miles long and about six miles wide, offering a 77 mile shoreline.

 Facebook reminders of live music and a local band we loved. My pictures may not be perfect, but I love them for the good times they represent. Courtesy Call My dad's friend came to a show once to record, and like the images, the recording isn't perfect... We miss the band, and we miss the venue....we miss live music in general....

Mmmm, pizza.  Definitely one of my favorite things. A second favorite to all of the United States. The top three chains are Pizza Hut, Papa John's, and Domino's. We prefer local - below is from Pizano's but JJ's is my number one. Flatbreads with toppings have been consumed by ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks.  But Naples, Italy is considered the birthplace of pizza as we know it today.  It was a bustling town with a large working poor population, and they needed inexpensive food to eat, so the street vendors provided. When Italy unified in 1861, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited the city and requested an assortment of pizzas.  The Queen's favorite was the pizza mozzarella - flatbread topped with the cheese, red tomatoes, and green basil - and so it's been called Margherita ever since. With immigration, Neapolitans brought pizza to the United States. While their location has moved, Lombardi's is still in business and using the same oven as they...

  Shortly after the Presidential Inauguration, and following a powerful recitation of her poem, "The Hill We Climb," Amanda Gorman was signed to IMG Models. She was also the best part of last night's Super Bowl broadcast, with "Chorus of the Captains." It's not entirely random that she'd end up with a modeling contract.  She starred in a LOFT ad campaign in 2020 and went on assignment for Prada, traveling to Slovenia to understand how fishing nets and carpet were being upcycled into their Re-Nylon bags. American Black Film Festival Honors, February 2020 Women in the World Summit, April 2019 Black Girls Rock, August 2018 Women of Worth, December 2017 It was in April 2017 that Amanda became the very first National Youth Poet Laureate in US history. In 2014, at the age of 16, she founded One Pen One Page, a non-profit organization that encourages youth advocacy, leadership development, and poetry workshops. Amanda Gorman

  The adorable, microscopic tardigrade, also known as the water bear. They can live just about anywhere - they can survive radiation, boiling liquids, massive pressure and even the vacuum of space.  They're likely to keep on kicking long after we've been wiped out. One aspect of their survival relies on cryptobiosis, a near death state they can enter by rolling into a dehydrated ball, (called a tun), retracting their head and legs.  Once they're back in water, they come back to life, so to speak.  In 2016, scientists revived two tuns that had been in cryptobiosis for 30 years! They can also form a special tun that prevents the growth of ice crystals in cold temperatures. When oxygen is low, they can stretch out which reduces their metabolic rate and their muscles can absorb enough oxygen and water to survive.  And regarding radiation, they're able to produce a protein which protects their DNA from damage. For food, water bears suck the juices from algae, lichens...

  It's a busy workday and I didn't have a topic planned for today, so here's a picture from last weekend. The dogs sure love a run.