Snow Moon

Corona de Tucson

February 5, 2023 

February Full Moon (2-4-23)...The Snow Moon

Saturday morning Jamie and Andra invited us to go to Tombstone.  Tombstone has been on Andra's "let's go there list" for awhile as she had never had the Tombstone cowboy experience.  It was a beautiful day...sunny and warm just the way we like it!  They picked us up and the four of us headed out for a little history, a little shopping, lots of laughs, and lunch in the "Town Too Tough To Die".  

My cowboys !

 

High Spirits Flute is my favorite browsing store...especially when the owner plays one of the beautiful sounding flutes.  

And everyone should have at least one Big Nose Kates lunch experience...

We were home early to enjoy a few minutes outside as the sun was setting...

and the moon was rising.

The February full moon is called the Snow Moon. It is the smallest full moon of the year and is referred to as a micromoon...the opposite of a supermoon.  It doesn't appear smaller to the naked eye, but is 14% smaller than a supermoon because of the current position of the moon in its orbit.  

I read that the Snow Moon would be  positioned in the Leo constellation.   Andra showed me this very cool app for my phone...SkyView Lite.  So Saturday night she and I  took our phones out to give it a try.  I held my phone pointed in the direction of the moon and this appeared on the screen.  (The red line marks the horizon.)   

I also read that the Snow Moon would rise with Jupiter, Mars and Orion.  I found Jupiter and close by was Pisces.   I have never paid much attention to zodiac signs or referred to them for information, but my birthdate puts me in the Pisces sign.  

 

Orion, the world's most recognizable constellation,  should be visible the whole month of February.  A few  body turns and up and downs with the phone and I found Orion and a surprise...the International Space Station.  We watched and followed the Space Station as it moved across the sky from one side of the house to the other.  

It was pretty cool moving the phone around to see what would show up next.  SkyView Lite is a free download from the Apple App Store and a fun and easy way to explore the night sky.   

The kiddos spent the night and Sally was most pleased.  She and Ozzy are the best of friends...

Back at the oasis, it's was a quiet week.  Nothing pressing to do...just piddling things here and there.  I gathered all the tax info and organized it,  cross-stitched, made Santa Fe soup (its so yummy served with grated sharp cheddar cheese, dollops of sour cream, and crunched up corn chips), cleaned out the pantry, and all the other usual weekly stuff.  We trimmed back the lantana and planted agave sprouts (I call them babies) our neighbor gave us that he dug up around his big agave plants.    On Friday, the pups went to the groomers.  Dover and Jack had their nails trimmed and Sally got a haircut along with the manicure.

On the way there, Sally laid in the backseat floor board (we have no idea why) and Jack was on the backseat under a blanket, but Dover was all about checking out the sights. Dover and Jack went first and we left Sally for a couple of hours for  Cynthia to do her thing.

This was Sally on a very windy Thursday.

And this was Sally on Friday afternoon.  

It did warm up some this week.  The sun felt so good.  

Jack played ball outside.

And these two agree that naps in the warm sunshine are the best !

The Cactus Wrens have been busy...in and out of the palm tree fronds.  I'm guessing it is nest building/remodeling time.  There must be a kazillion nests hidden in those fronds. 

 

The Black-chinned hummingbirds have also been busy.  It is breeding season and we can't keep the feeder full. 

(If you click on the photos of the birds, the picture is much sharper.)

And as much as we love the hawks, it makes me a little anxious to see the Cooper's hawk on the fence.  He sat for awhile this week...such a handsome bird and totally focused.  Unlike the Harris' Hawk, the Cooper's do hunt the songbirds.  I'm always happy to see him and always happy when he flies away and the Goldfinch were not lunch.  

It's funny and always puts a big smile on my face to see these ground birds on the feeder.  I read that Gamble's Quail are quite adaptive...

Our most vivid sunrise this week was on Thursday.  It was a chilly 34 degrees and Sally and I were the only brave souls to wander out and enjoy it. 

That's a wrap on our week.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, time has a way of flying by...January's last sunset and it seems like yesterday we were welcoming a new year.  Until next time,

Happy Trails !