The Eclipse is Coming!

The eclipse is coming!

The eclipse is coming!

The eclipse is coming!

On January 31, the Sun, Earth and Moon will align so the Moon passes through the shadow of Earth. As if that was’t special enough, it’s also a supermoon and a blue moon. What a day!

Sadly, that doesn’t all apply to us here in Lowell.

Yes, it will be a supermoon - meaning the Moon will appear a tiny bit larger than usual because it’s a tiny bit closer to Earth than usual.

Yes, it will also be a blue moon - meaning it is the second full moon in a calendar month. The first was January 2nd.

We will miss out on almost all of the lunar eclipse. The moon will be setting as the eclipse is starting so we won’t get to see much. 

Wait until January 20th next year to get the full lunar eclipse experience. It can be pretty cool.

During last lunar eclipse a few years ago, the Moon became dark, dark red as it passed through the umbra. 

It was great, but doesn’t compare with a solar eclipse - where the Moon is between the Sun and Earth. But, in Lowell you’ll have to wait quite a while to see one of those. The next one isn’t until May 1, 2079. 

You’ll have to observe that one for me, I’m unlikely to live to be 117 years old.

Revenge of the Snow Day

Oh, so many happy children. Singing and dancing in front of their TV’s.

“No school, no school, no school,” they chant excitedly.

It’s a snow day, or should I say another snow day. We’re up to six at this point and we’re just in the middle of January.

No classes to sit through, no worksheets to complete, no notes to take - just a day to stay inside, text, snapchat and play video games.  Life is good. 

But, no matter what the weather, we still need to complete 180 days of school. 

For every one of the bundled-up, whiteout conditions, never-going-outside again days of Winter we miss, we’ll be giving up a t-shirt-’n-shorts-wearing, blue-skies-and-green-grass, staying-out-until-9pm day of Summer.

Think back to the last days of our last school year at the Bartlett Community Hotbox. Windows designed to keep kids from accidentally falling out but also accidentally keep

fresh air from coming in. Fans just blowing stale, clammy air around. Classrooms so hot you feel like you’re actually melting. Sweating so bad you feel like you need a shower and it’s not even nine o’clock, yet.

Oh yes, the revenge of the snow day is real. 

Brace yourself. It’s coming

Fashion Over Function

Fashion is not something I know a lot about. It’s not something that usually interests me. I mean, seriously, I wear khakis to school every single day. But, even I have noticed a new fashion trend - ripped jeans. 

I first noticed this a couple of years ago and what I’ve seen happen over time is the rips have gotten more extreme. Now, it’s more like shredded jeans. 

I understand. 

I wore ripped jeans when I was a middle and high school student, too. I have been told these rips are somehow made so they do not continue to rip. I’m not sure how the designers do that, but I guess they have a way. My ripped jeans were done the old fashioned way - I wore them out. 

One of my favorite pair of jeans had about a 2 inch rip at the knee. It matched the 2 inch scar on my knee. I was ice skating and fell. somehow the blade of my skate sliced into my jeans and knee. Ouch!

But now, in the 21st century we buy our ripped jeans off the rack.

A few days ago, I asked a student, who was wearing extremely ripped jeans, if she wore those jeans when it was very cold out - on those days when it was below zero.

She said she had worn them on those super-cold days. 

“Were your legs cold?” I asked.

She sheepishly replied that, yes her legs were very cold.

Hmmmmm, if only there was a way to avoid that problem…