Category: Traditions and Holidays

Spring’s Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week—Here’s How to Watch It

By Jake Smith of Prevention Magazine

Enjoy one of nature’s most breathtaking sights, all while staying safely away from others.

Cavan Images Getty Images

  • The annual Lyrid meteor shower officially started up last Thursday and will be visible until Saturday, April 25.
  • The Lyrid meteor shower will be visible each night from 10 p.m. to 4:45 a.m., with a peak viewing period from 3:45 to 4:45 a.m.
  • Lyrid’s peak viewing time will take place Tuesday night through Wednesday morning.

Tired of watching TV, staying cooped up inside, or staring at a computer screen? You’re in luck: For the next few days, all you need to do is look up. The annual Lyrid meteor shower, spring’s only such visible event and one of the oldest known meteor showers, officially started up last Thursday and will be visible each night until Saturday, April 25. Over the course of their 10-day appearance, thousands of shooting stars will dart across the sky.

Lyrid’s peak viewing time will take place Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, according to NASA. (A peak at dawn on Earth Day is a wonderful cosmic coincidence, right?)

The Lyrid meteor shower will be visible each night from 10 p.m. to 4:45 a.m., with a peak viewing period from 3:45 to 4:45 a.m., according to the Griffith Observatory. Early risers, you’re in luck—that’s the hour right before dawn. Sharp observers should be able to spot about 10 to 20 meteors per hour in optimal viewing conditions. With a new moon on Tuesday night, expect the perfect amount of darkness.

 

https://www.prevention.com/life/a32212958/lyrid-meteor-shower-2020/

National Arbor Day–Friday, April 24

Plant a Tree for Arbor Day | Life | kenoshanews.com

Kenosha News

6 Ways to Celebrate Arbor Day in a Time of Social Distancing

By Sheereen Othman | March 20, 2020

This public health crisis has taught us to be more agile and creative in finding ways to celebrate trees and connect with nature. After all, there are many benefits to being around trees, including less stress.

Here are six easy ways you can celebrate Arbor Day while practicing social distancing.

1. Hike Through a Forest

Find a nearby trail in a forest (or park) and go for a walk, hike, or bike ride. Natural settings are effective in lowering stress. Exercising outdoors compared to exercising indoors helps people feel more revitalized, engaged with others, and less tense.

2. Online Nature Learning

When you can’t make it outdoors, stay in and learn about it. Carly’s Kids Corner is full of fun and educational resources to connect children with nature. The site includes interactive games that highlight that value of trees.

Trees without leaves on white background

3. Draw Your Favorite Trees

This is a great activity to do with young ones. Bring out the colored pencils and crayons and start drawing your best artwork. You could even use it as an extension of Carly’s Kids Corners by trying to identify the trees and including some tree facts.

 

4. Nature-based Crafts

Indoor days are perfect for arts and crafts. Pinterest is full of creative ideas for crafts made with natural materials like pine cones, needles, leaves, and twigs. See what you can find in your backyard and let your imagination get to work.

5. Order a Tree

Can one ever have too many trees? Whether you find a tree from a local nursery or the Arbor Day Foundation Tree Nursery, nothing says Arbor Day like buying and planting a tree. The tree you plant will benefit your whole community. Times like these remind us of the importance of healthy communities.

Read Designing a Landscape with Trees

6. Become a Member

When you become a member of the Arbor Day Foundation, you support tree planting efforts around the globe. In addition to supporting something greater, your membership includes discounted trees from the Tree Nursery, our bi-monthly newsletter, and a copy of the Tree Book.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the air. Although we don’t know what the coming weeks look like, it’s still important to take time to pause, relax, and continue to celebrate the good things. Trees are proven to reduce stress and improve well-being. If ever there was a time for trees, now is that time.

Have a happy and healthy Arbor Day!

 

https://arbordayblog.org/celebrate-arbor-day/6-ways-to-celebrate-arbor-day-in-a-time-of-social-distancing/

Good Friday-A Day of Sorrow

 

Paolo Veneziano: The Crucifixion
Paolo Veneziano: The CrucifixionThe Crucifixion, tempera on wood by Paolo Veneziano, c. 1340/45; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 31 cm × 38 cm.Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.143Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, the day on which Christians annually observe the commemoration of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. From the early days of Christianity, Good Friday was observed as a day of sorrow, penance, and fasting, a characteristic that finds expression in the German word Karfreitag (“Sorrowful Friday”).Until the 4th century, Jesus’ Last Supper, his death, and his Resurrection were observed in one single commemoration on the evening before Easter. Since then, those three events have been observed separately—Easter, as the commemoration of Jesus’ Resurrection, being considered the pivotal event.

The liturgical celebration of Good Friday has undergone various changes over the centuries. In the Roman Catholic Church the mass is not celebrated on Good Friday, though a liturgy is performed. With the revival of a liturgical emphasis in Protestantism in the second half of the 20th century, a distinct trend of adopting Catholic ritual (no use of the organ in the service, draping of the cross, baring of the altar, etc.) developed.

Unlike Christmas and Easter, which have acquired numerous secular traditions, Good Friday has, because of its intense religious connotation, not led to an overlay of secular customs and practices.

Article credit:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Good-Friday

 

 

I’m reminded of this quote by the late Cardinal Fulton J. Sheen:

Image

True words.

Passover Word Search

Various Passover items on wooden table

Photo by stellalevi / Getty Images

Article by  Beverly Hernandez

Passover is an eight-day Jewish festival celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. The festival is celebrated in the spring during the Hebrew month of Nissan (usually in April).

Passover is divided into two parts symbolizing the parting of the Red Sea. On the first two days and the last two days, Jewish people don’t work. They light candles and enjoy special holidays meals.

The first night of Passover is celebrated with a seder (a ritual dinner) during which the Haggadah (the story of the Israelite exodus) is recited. During Passover, Jews do not eat chametz (leavened grains). In fact, these products are removed from the home entirely. Other foods must be kosher (conforming to Jewish dietary laws).

Other traditional Passover foods include maror (bitter herbs), charoset (a sweet paste made of fruit and nuts), beitzah (hard-boiled egg), and wine.

Children play an important role in the celebration of Passover. Customarily, the youngest child at the table asks four questions whose answers explain why the seder night is unique.

 

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