Bill Weber
Go to my other WEB site at:
>http://www.angelfire.com/mi/cybereport/<
"Once In a Blue Moon"
How often have you said or heard "Once in a Blue Moon" and not thought much about what it really means.Remember how beautiful the nearly full moon was on Saturday night January 30th. Thema mentioned that this would be the second full moon for the month of January 1999 and then the very next day while we were visiting my sister Mary at Heritage Manor in Elroy, Thema spied an article in the LaCrosse Tribune that directed us to a very delightful WEB page of David Harper and Lynne Marie at: >http://www.obliquity.com/< When you get their page scroll down to and click on to "Interactive Astronomy Pages" There you will find all kindsof interesting information about the earth and moon including - What is a Blue Moon? For you readers without links to the Internet here is a few interesting facts I willl quote directly from Dave & Lynne's WEB page: ["Once in a Blue Moon ... is a common way of saying not very often, but what exactly is a Blue Moon? It is the second Full Moon to occur in a single calendar month."]
The average interval between Full Moons is about 29.5 days, whie the length of an average month is roughly 30.5 days. This makes it very unlikely that any given month will contain two Full Moons,though it does sometimes happen.
On average, there will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so you could say that once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years.."] end of qoute. Copyright 1995-99 by David Harper and Lynne Marie Stockman
They also have a, Blue Moon Calculator you can click on and find out which years have Blue Moons as well as a list of Frequently-Asked Questions and Answers about Blue Moons as well as information on other subjects.
BE MY VALENTINE
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
My Valentine
'Cause I Love you
Remember when you were in grade school and on the 14th of February and some time during that day the teacher would opened the Valentine Box and each of us would receive valentines from our class mates. In most cases each student gave a valentine to each student in their class or their class room. You did not know whether to look at your favorite Valentine and see how he or she reacted to your valentine. Yet you could not resist and then when you got their positive response, that made your day.
Down through our single years we would possibey sent out sentimental love notes to those who meant much to us. We married and those first few years we continued to remind our spouse of our love on this 14th da y of February. Then our children came along, we sent them cute litllle valentines. Then we worked with them to see that they had the opportunity to send cute little valentines to their classmates and now it is grandchilldren and great grandchildren and we are still involved in sending valentines.
So how did alll this get started and why it is getting to be one of the biggest seasons for sending greeting cards, flowers etc. (Mostly perhaps because of the great promotion by the makers of Greeting Cards) but not to be too cynical one might say that there is a need in all our lives to have a special time or event to remind us, in a gentle way, to stop and smell the roses and let others know that although we may not do it everyday it is nice to be reminded at least once a year to send a word of LOVE. to those who mean so much to us.
In my search for information on how Valentines Day got started, I went to my old standby Encyclopedia Britannica. I was a bit surprised that they had such a limited article. Here is what they had to say:
Valentine, SAINT
(d. 3rd century, Rome; feast day February 14), name of two legendary martyrs
whose lives seem to be historically based. One was a Roman priest and physician
who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians by the emperor
Claudius II Gothicus and was buried on the Via Flaminia. Pope St. Julius
I reportedly built a basilica over his grave. The other, bishop of Terni,
Italy, was martyred, apparently also in Rome, and his relics were later taken
to Terni. It is possible these are different versions of the same original
account and refer to only one person.
St. Valentine's Day as a lovers' festival, dates at least from the
14th century. The modern tradition of sending valentine cards has no relation
to the saints.
To cite this page:
"Valentine, SAINT" Britannica Online.
http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/616/85.html
Then there is this WEB page at:
>http://www.bconnex.net/~mbuchana/realms/valentine/history.html<
THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE'S DAY
Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient
Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honor Juno. the Queen of the Roman
Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women
and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.
The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.
Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270.
The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavored to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feast.
ONE CHRISTIAN VERSION
http://www.america.net/seasonal/valentine/history.html
Christian legends believe that Valentine's Day is the Feast of St. Valentine, who was beheaded on February 14th under the orders of Roman Emperor Claudius II. The Emperor believed that if his men remained single his army would be larger. He wouldn't lose men to wanting to stay home with the family. Valentine was arrested and beheaded because he would secretly marry people forbidden to wed. He became known as the patron saint of lovers. Believing that Valentine's Day exists to celebrate the memory of a saint who valued love and romance, many exchange love notes or Valentines. Others believe that Valentine was later confused with the Norman French word 'galantin' meaning "lover of women". Through the passage of time, the two have merged with the result of St. Valentine being remembered as the patron saint of lovers.
HERE IS A LIST OF E-MAIL GREETING CARD COMPANIES
>http://www.xoomcards.com/< Valentine cards for all ages.
>http://www.angelfire.com/ok/Gizmozpage/Cards.html
< - Many greeting card WEB sites.
>http://www.excite.com/lifestyle/holidays/valentines_day/
< Valentine cards etc.
>http://www.marlo.com/val.htm
< -Valentine cards
>http://www.pacificapage.com/love/valentine.htm<
- a lovely WEB page-slow to load
>http://www.america.net/seasonal/valentine/history.html<
Valentine history WEB site
>http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/15254a.htm<