Full Moon on Sunday, 5th July

July's Buck MoonJuly’s Full Moon is known as the Buck Moon named after the new antlers that emerge from a buck’s forehead around this time of the year.
Another name for July’s Full Moon is Thunder Moon because of the frequent thunderstorms in the summer. The Anglo-Saxon name is either Hay Moon, after the hay harvest that takes place in July, or Wort Moon, indicating that July is the time to gather herbs (worts) to dry and use as spices and remedies.
For Hindus this is the Guru Full Moon (Guru Purnima) and is celebrated as a time for clearing the mind and honouring the guru or spiritual master. For Buddhists, this full Moon is Dharma Day, also known as Asalha Puha or Esala Poya.

There will be a partial penumbral lunar eclipse in the early hours of Sunday morning which the tabloids are promoting – but don’t expect to see much!

#Broadwindsor #StaySafe #SocialDistancing #FullMoon #LookUp

Broadwindsor News Back In Publication

Broadwindsor News July 2020The Broadwindsor News is now out – being delivered to households who subscribe and there should be some available in the shop.
Containing lots of updates from village organisations, this edition also includes Margery Hooking’s ‘Broadwindsor in Lockdown 2020′ poem.

You can download the poem to your computer in PDF format: BROADWINDSOR IN LOCKDOWN 2020
or you can read it below . . .

BROADWINDSOR IN LOCKDOWN 2020 

Nature, you were never lovelier,

when the world stopped, but the Earth kept spinning.

And then the world turned upside down, freedom could not be found

We all became experts at social distancing – no grandparents would be visiting.

Sunshine, birdsong, a much quieter life but life still went on.

Thursday night clapping for our hard-pressed carers,

a ripple of applause from one end of the village to the other.

The Sound of Music every day at one o’clock.

Business booms at the community shop

as sales of fruit, veg and alcohol go pop.

Takeout drinks from the pub

and Vikki’s quiche and coleslaw in the shop.

The Tuesday night chip van at Comrades Hall,

Friday morning Post Office, chairs six feet apart.

Anxiety calmed by WhatsApp and Zoom, meeting family and friends by the touch of a button.

People chatting with new friends while standing next to bollards in the shop queue.

Heart attacks, cancelled operations, masks, gloves and Perspex screens.

Food deliveries for the vulnerable.

Our church went blue for the NHS.

The Sound of Music every day at one o’clock.

And we had time to just be with the one we love without duty or obligation stealing the day.

Doing all that we can to keep a company viable,

sorting wages and furlough staff, all reliable.

Farmers cut the fields for silage and tractors trundled through the village.

Up on Lewesdon Hill, bluebells didn’t know about coronavirus.

VE Day flags and afternoon tea outside our homes.

Socially distanced wildflower planting – digging, sowing and watering.

A beautiful sight to welcome visitors to our village when all this has passed.

The Sound of Music every day at one o’clock.

Lock down with the family – fantastic at the start, learning through the struggles, stresses and worries, tears, laughter and love.

Dusting flour from my hands, I pick up my book;

to bake or read, my lockdown dilemma.

There’s only one village in the west for me, Broadwindsor is the place I love to be.

It’s music at one and clapping at eight to rid us of the virus we love to hate.

Virtual Bananagrams, with gin, on Skype; virtual birthday parties on Zoom; virtual running – for medals – on Strava.

Virtual life.

The village roads, now used much less, speeds traffic onward faster;

too fast for the slowworm outside the shop, who is now not just slow, but flatter.

The sun beckons and mocks. Enjoy what you have, count your blessings.

The Sound of Music every day at one o’clock.

The church buildings are silent, dusty, locked, empty, paused.

God is active, loud, renewing, unrestricted, present, recreating and filling us every day.

Time to listen to the birds, watch the flowers grow, to smell the air, walk up the hill and to be still.

The warmth, love and friendship uncovered and blossoming as we all work together through this strange, uncertain  time.

House quiet, headphones on, five laptops glowing, each immersed in our own virtual business and learning,

waiting for the next punctuation point in days we can’t name.

Then kettle on, frisbee out, meals prepared, conversation flows, reconnected again.

The Sound of Music every day at one o’clock.

Free loo rolls from the village shop. The kindness of strangers.

And then a huge blue ball hurtles down the road, like the ever-present Rover bubble in The Prisoner.

A small army of tireless volunteers, stacking, selling, delivering.

Painting, writing, reading, decorating – my furniture has never been so upcycled.

The village phone box becomes a book exchange, tales of a community bound up on donated shelves.

Take-outs from the pub, food and drink, got to keep it going.

The call of rooks from their satellite rookery at the Old George,

while the parish councillors discuss village affairs over Zoom.

The space station goes over, the sun’s fading light makes it glow for all to see.

Endless sunshine, we will never see this blue a sky again.

The Sound of Music on the World Service and Desert Island Discs.

Slippers or flip flops worn all day.

The garden glorious in all this sun.

A tank of petrol lasts for months.

A time of reflection for the things that really matter. The birdsong and beautiful countryside.

Teaching the children, online bitesize that doesn’t bite back.

A fish van arrives in the Square at half past eleven, a shoal of customers in single file down the road.

Gardens and allotments provide solace and colour.

The Sound of Music at one o’clock

Afternoon briefing, highlight of the day.

What day is it, by the way?

– Margery Hookings, June 2020

10 Years Of Our Sun In Time Lapse Video

We frequently gaze at the Sun, wish for the Sun, curse the Sun and praise the Sun. It is the star at the centre of our Solar System and unquestionably, the most important source of energy for life on Earth.
This is a marvellous video recorded from June 2010 to June 2020.  This time-lapse video is just over one minute.
The full video, which has accompanying custom music entitled  Solar Observer”, composed by musician Lars Leonhard, is just over one hour where each second representing a day.  Watch & listen to it HERE.

#StaySafe #LookUp #Sun #NASA

Penumbral Lunar & Solar Eclipse in June

Strawberry Moon in JuneThe new lunar cycle begins this evening around 6.30pm.  This June, we will get a chance to see both a solar and lunar eclipse. The first will be the Lunar Eclipse, which will happen on June 5th, then will come the Solar Eclipse, on June 21st.

A Solar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, which totally or partly blocks out the Sun for a viewer on Earth.

A Lunar Eclipse can occur only on the night of a Full Moon.
It occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy), with Earth between the other two.
In a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, the Moon moves through a portion of the Earth’s outer shadow. The Earth restricts or obstructs the sunlight from reaching the Moon.
The eclipse starts at 18.45 hrs. but won’t be visible until the Moon rises above the horizon around 21.15 hrs. Look South East. The eclipse ends at 10:04 pm.
The next Penumbral Lunar Eclipse that we’ll be able to see is on 30th November.

June’s Full Moon on the 5th is also known as the Strawberry Moon., being the time of year for ripening strawberries.  June was traditionally the month for marriages – it is even named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno. Following marriage comes the “honeymoon,” which give may give credence to this Full Moon’s name.

#LookUp #StaySafe