Monday Meme: Me in the 80s Vs Me Now

 

Planerary Photography -- 01-01-2025 -- Jupiter In Taurus With The Hunter and Dogs

Happy New Year 2025, Y'all!

I mean to actually post these the other day, however I've been feeling very under the weather with a severe cold and flu, so I apologize for the delay in posting as I'm still in recovery.

At exactly midnight here on the East Coast of the United States on Wednesday, January 1st -- the official star of New Year's Day in my little corner of Dixie -- I set up my camera and tripod and fixed it overhead into the wonderfully clear sky to capture this outstanding photo of the largest planet in our Solar System, Jupiter, inside the Constellation Taurus The Bull. I was also able to capture the brightest stars of the nearby constellations Orion The Hunter, Canis Major The Greater Dog, and Canis Minor The Lesser Dog.

I duplicated the photo so that I could outline the positions of the constellations, as well as the Winter Circle asterism in the shot.

Look for bright Jupiter overhead and you will easily be able to find the Constellation Taurus since, due to its slow orbit around the Sun, Jupiter is going to remain inside the large V of Taurus well into early May as seen here in North America when the winter constellation disappears from view to give way to the summer stars thanks to the Earth's rotation.

That's all for now, but I plan to have more night sky photography for y'all soon, good weather and clear skies permitting.

Merry Christmas Y'all!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~Isaiah 9:6

"By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."  ~Romans 5:18-19 

From my little corner of Dixie to wherever y'all are, have a very Merry Christmas this year!

Monday Meme: Merry Christmas From The South Pole

2024 Lowrys Christmas Parade

 

Greetings and Merry Christmas, Y'all! 

Well its that time of the year again for the Town of Lowrys Old Fashioned Christmas Parade in Chester County, South Carolina.

This annual event draws as many as 30-50,000 people yearly to the small rural town of Lowrys every year, along with as many as 2,000 parade participants and nearly 200, or more, horse or tractor-drawn floats giving this particular Christmas tradition a unique holiday feel.

Once again, yours truly attended this event as a participant with the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) float. This year the float was sponsored by three camps from my corner of South Carolina: Brigadier General Micah Jenkins Camp #1569 (York County), States Rights Gist Camp #1451 (Union County), and the Moses Wood Camp #125 (Cherokee County), with your favorite blogger representing the Walker-Gaston Camp #86 (Chester County).

This year we were blessed with perfect weather for the first official day of winter here in South Carolina -- about 50F and maybe a 5 MPH wind in sunny conditions. The parade began at 1 PM EST and lasted about two hours (there was a delay of about ten minutes when one of the tractors failed to start and had to be moved) for the horses, mules, and tractor-drawn carriages and floats to conduct the three-mile loop.

The following are the photos I took during the preparations for the parade, and during the parade itself.

2024 Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) float representing
four upstate South Carolina camps.

One again my thanks to my fellow SCV members from my little corner of Dixie for their continued participation and allowing your favorite blogger to help out spreading the Christmas cheer (aka tossing candy).

Also I would like to thanks all of the participants in the 2024 Town of Lowrys Old Fashioned Christmas Parade and those tens of thousands who attended, along with all of their lovely animals. As always it was a pleasure to attend and take part in this annual event.

Have a very Merry Christmas season, y'all!