Phil's Place: Moon Mars and Venus

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Moon Mars and Venus

In The Crepuscule

Mars is between Venus and Moon

I used the word crepuscule to announce the song Twilight Time last Monday at the Treehouse Jamboree/Fun Music Fest. It had people bewildered and once again muttering, “What the heck is he talking about now?”

15 minutes earlier, looking East

I first saw that word in 1963 on a Thelonious Monk album. It was part of the song title, “Crepuscule with Nellie”. (Nellie was his wife's name)

Crepuscule is Middle English derived from the Latin word crepusculum. So now you know, if you didn’t already, crepuscule means, “Twilight”.

Mars is more visible as darkness falls

While I was taking the Moon Mars Venus pictures, a fire truck and ambulance came to assist one of my neighbors. I had my tripod set up next to my Buick in our parking lot.

The fire truck backed around (beep beep beep beep beep beep beep, ad infinitum) and the ambulance parked about 10 feet from where I was standing. The attendants went on to B building leaving their diesel engine idling (ratta tatta clatter clatter, etc)

Photobombed by helicopter

About this time a police helicopter began circling overhead, shining a spotlight down toward some scofflaw who must have done something drastic enough to warrant a $15,000 dollar helicopter chase.

So now, we have the helicopter circling, “Fudda-futta-futta puppa=puppa fap fap fappa”.

The ambulance fumigating the parking lot with idling diesel exhaust, “ratta tatta clatter clatter, etc”, and I am thinking that this cannot be soothing to the distraught patient.

Reflections in calm water

At this time when we are asked to tighten our belts while the ill advised leaders of our nation continue to squander trillions of dollars on unnecessary and unwinnable wars to protect oil company assets in other countries, one has to wonder if using helicopters to chase petty criminals is a smart use of our meager monetary resources.

Along the Treehouse driveway

All electric powered ambulances would save a bundle of money, and wouldn’t traumatize accident victims or patients with the raucous rattling of an idling diesel engine.

Solar panels at the ambulance company and solar powered charging stations around town would greatly reduce operating expenses and any excess power could go into the grid when the chargers are full.