Howl at the Moon Tonight

I guess we humans can't keep from nicknaming everything around us. People, animals, things, the list is endless. Think of something and there will be a catchy nickname to go along with the accepted boring name. The monthly Full Moon's are no exception.

Seems January's full moon which peaks tonight is known as the "Wolf Moon". I was sure the name had something to do with werewolves and the like, but the true story is less compelling and really no one knows exactly how or when January's full moon was first saddled with the nickname, "Wolf Moon". It was many moons ago though.

One reasonable explanation came from a BBC article I just read.

Wolves do not hibernate over the winter. They stay active and nighttime is a favorite time to chase down food I guess. And they apparently are happy to have a moon to howl at. I know when I was young, numb and shitfaced, stoned or high on LSD, I tended to howl at the moon also. 

The thing about the Wolf Moon though is that another annual celestial event coincides with it. Mars can be found right next to the Moon tonight. Same thing last night. It was awesome. But then to sweeten the deal, Mars is also approaching "opposition". Opposition is when a celestial body finds itself directly in line with the Sun. The last one for Mars was in December, 2022. Opposition means the Sun will be casting the brightest of its light on that celestial body and viewing it will be at its best. If you have a decent telescope, tonight's the night to use it if you want to check out Mars.

If tonight is as clear as it was last night, I'm digging out a yard chair, bundling up and sparking up a doob. I will be found staring at the sky for a few hours. Last night I was only outside maybe 5 minutes. But then a t-shirt and flip flops was not the right attire for sub 20's F weather.

There might be better reasons to go out in the cold cold night, but tonight is certainly right up near the top of the list.

Later ...............................

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Again, another post I had no problem finding a tune to go with it. Before I even started this post, I thought of only one song, "Werewolves of London", by Warren Zevon. The word I heard was, tonight is the night the Werewolves of London rock their hardest. Better stay away from them Jim, they'll rip your lungs out.