Sunday, December 19, 2010

Book Week 51 - The beginning of Winter and Christmas Tidings

Ajudante De Papai Noel by Murilocardoso

Tomorrow is a once in a life time day for us with the beginning of winter coinciding with a lunar eclipse.  The last time this happened was 1554 AD.  According to NASA:

The luster will be a bit "off" on Dec. 21st, the first day of northern winter, when the full Moon passes almost dead-center through Earth's shadow. For 72 minutes of eerie totality, an amber light will play across the snows of North America, throwing landscapes into an unusual state of ruddy shadow. 

The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST (Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth's shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the "bite" to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes. 

If you're planning to dash out for only one quick look -­ it is December, after all -­ choose this moment: 03:17 am EST (17 minutes past midnight PST). That's when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.

With the beginning of winter, Christmas is upon us and I found a movie last year that told the nativity story beautifully:
The Nativity Story


 I just discovered Angela Hunt wrote the companion novel that goes along with it.  

The Nativity Story by Angela Hunt


And two of my favorite books we love reading every Christmas besides the Christmas story are:

The Night Before Christmas
 
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend






Merry Christmas to you and yours!

*********************************
Link to your reviews: 

1 comment:

  1. I am commenting as instructed! Bit late to the game, but I've already read a few books this year :-p

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your kind comments.