Nature & Science
Tomorrow is the full moon, called the Harvest Moon. The moon rises in the east at about the same time as the sun sets in the west. The brilliant moon is in the zodiacal constellation Pisces.
The Harvest Moon is the nearest full moon to the first day of autumn, which was last Saturday.
The moon will look large as it rises in the east, and it will appear to be close. Full moons on the horizon always look closer and bigger. But as the moon climbs higher in the sky it seems to shrink.
The moon actually will be closest to the earth next Friday, when it is in perigee. The moon on that date will be 251,000 miles away. Tides will run slightly higher and lower than usual, due to both the closeness of the moon and the fact that the moon is just past full.
The gravitational pull of both the moon and the sun play a big part in the tides. The relationship between the earth to the moon and sun are also involved. When the moon is closesTomorrow is the full moon, called the Harvest Moon. The moon rises in the east at about the same time as the sun sets in the west. The brilliant moon is in the zodiacal constellation Pisces.
The Harvest Moon is the nearest full moon to the first day of autumn, which was last Saturday.
The moon will look large as it rises in the east, and it will appear to be close. Full moons on the horizon always look closer and bigger. But as the moon climbs higher in the sky it seems to shrink.
The moon actually will be closest to the earth next Friday, when it is in perigee. The moon on that date will be 251,000 miles away. Tides will run slightly higher and lower than usual, due to both the closeness of the moon and the fact that the moon is just past full.
The gravitational pull of both the moon and the sun play a big part in the tides. The relationship between the earth to the moon and sun are also involved. When the moon is closest to the earth, our oceans feel an extra tug.
The extreme tides next week will likely be something for fishermen to talk about.t to the earth, our oceans feel an extra tug.
The extreme tides next week will likely be something for fishermen to talk about.
On Wednesday morning, the jungle of hop plants at the end of Hopps Farm Road in West Tisbury stood 20 feet high, well above Alan Northcott’s head.
Atop a ladder he sliced the string connecting the vine away from the bamboo trellis that the hop plant had climbed along. Down below he handed the vine to the friends, neighbors and brewers who had gathered to help him harvest the hops, soon to be incorporated into an Offshore Ale one-of-a-kind brew: Hopps Farm Road Pale Ale.
The Dukes County Commission heard this week from members of the Eastville Beach committee that they would like to disband.
Eastville Beach is located on the Vineyard Haven Harbor near Lagoon Pond and spans Tisbury and Oak Bluffs. The county owns 5.3 acres of the beach, which includes a shorebird habitat, while Tisbury owns half an acre and Oak Bluffs owns just over three-quarters of an acre.
Felix Neck Welcome
Josey Kirkland has been named the new Education Coordinator and day camp director at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. Ms. Kirkland is originally from Carlisle and graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in environmental sciences, with a wildlife focus. She is familiar with island-living having spent summers on a small island in Casco Bay, Me. for over 20 years.
Ms. Kirkland will be coordinating all aspects of environmental education programs at Felix Neck and overseeing Felix Neck’s Fern and Feather Natural History Day camp.
It is a spectacular feeling to be in the midst of a large flock of thousands of tree swallows! The birds are flying gracefully around you, making aerial acrobatics to snatch bugs out of the air. They can fly so close to you that you can hear their wings beating the air.
The mystery of a nearly invisible tropical pinkletink which took up residence in an Oak Bluffs greenhouse has been solved. The tree frog, originally a native of Puerto Rico and thought to be a former resident of Hawaii, was captured last week by Gus Ben David of Edgartown.
“You can’t believe how loud it was,” Mr. Ben David said. “It had a piercing sound. We just couldn’t see it.”
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.