Is That A Comet Or Venus?

 I have never been one to follow the night sky very much.   But every now and then, Something will grab my attention and I will try to pretend I'm an expert.   (I'm not, but luckily, neither is anyone else,  so I rarely get busted!)   A good example would the the Total Solar Eclipse last year. I could not believe that hardly anyone seemed to care until the last week before the event.  But I was there!And made the opportunity happen by being in the path of totality.  

And it was TOTALLY worth it!

That being said, I have been proclaiming that there was a comet in the sky all last month and I figured it was still there.  I mean, I could clearly see the "Brightest thing in the sky" that looked like it had a tail.    That's the Comet... Right?  

Well,   Apparently not.   I guess all this time I have been looking at Venus ( Which is still very bright)   As the comet has since moved on.   And since I do not routinely check out all celestial bodies  each night, I had just assumed that the bright spot in the sky that was near the moon  was the Comet that I read about last month.     I was wrong!

Ah well,   Not the first time.  And probably will not be the last.   

We learn something new everyday.   And the life lesson that I can "Never be 100% about Anything!"  should not have been a surprise.   But learning that the bright spot is Venus and not the comet named Atlas (C/2024 G3)  allows me to rescind my remarks and make the correction. ( Hey! As long as you fix your mistakes...  You're Good!)

I kind of feel bad that I disturbed Yuan to take a picture for me with his shiny, brand new phone.  I thought that his new phone would take a better picture in the dimly lit sky, but it was only slightly better.   And in the end, it was not even a comet!   Just a boring planet with a toxic atmosphere.  

Just kidding.    Seeing a planet so easily in the night sky is still pretty cool.   

While doing my corrective research, I learned that there is supposed to be a total LUNAR eclipse this month. (March 13/14)  Apparently,  this is called a "Blood Moon" because the atmosphere of the earth could cause the moon to look orange or red.   But conditions may vary.  If you find yourself awake at 1 AM and want to see something cool ( I have watched several lunar eclipses in Iowa over the years)  It could be worth your while.   If you care about the happenings in the heavenly skies. 

This weekend was spent working on the fish... again.   I repainted it because I did not like the way the pattern was shaping up.   I finally downloaded a picture and blew it up so I could attempt to copy the pattern.  One of the reason I love fish is that they are so visually stunning if you really look at them. 

One of the reasons I HATE fish is because I simply can not paint them easily.  And I usually end up getting frustrated and calling it "Good Enough!"   which ends up looking bad for those who judge my artistic skills.   Ah well,  I have never been a perfectionist.   ( And it shows!)   I am usually happy with 80% efficiency. And that is better than many things in nature....  So,  I'll try to maintain that level of proficiency.  

And finally,  I enjoyed some Fish and Chips with some Zebra people.   They told me about the warehouse and all of the things that had happened since I last chatted with them.  It was fun catching up and talking with some good friends as the weekend began.  John had asked about them, so now,  if he is reading this blog...   He will learn that Matt from INBOUND was let go.   I guess Gary and him butted heads one too many times and they found a reason to show him the door.  Rather Sad news, as I liked Matt and his management style.   Marion says they have no plans on replacing him.   So there might have been "other reasons" behind the firing.  ( Redundancy, maybe? ) 

I wish Matt well and as cool  as he was, any workplace would be lucky to have him.  He got along well with the other employees,  was eager to learn new things, was not afraid to lend a hand or help out,  and was fair in his assessment of people.   In short,  My kind of Manager.  

Spring break is coming soon, and I'm sure the kids are counting the days.  I have not even looked that far into the future yet.  I'm focused on this upcoming week and that is all!   I find that if I look too far into the future, I build up crippling anxiety.   So I will take the advice of a Navy SEAL and take the future in small bites.   The larger the difficulty of the task before me.... The smaller the bite.  And there are days where I tell myself to just try to hang on until lunch.   Until after Chapel.  Until the end of this Set!  

And it never hurts to send up a quick prayer to God for a little help.  

But I'm looking forward to this week.  We will be continuing a LAB for Physical Science classes.   And we will be having a test about the oceans for the Earth Science sets and then moving on to Weather. (That is the plan so far...) And then Lent begins this week.  I always enjoy the midweek fellowship and service as we near Easter.    There is much to look forward to. 

And if you are any of my students who have found this blog and managed to read this far.   WHY?  This blog  is Mostly boring!  About a boring guy who teachers a boring class(s) Then again... I AM impressed that you read this far without the assistance of AI.   So maybe it's a good thing after all.   ( Because reading is a skill, you know.) 

Whatever your Motivation...   Just make sure every second counts.