Category Archives: 47

My Magic Number.

47, photos, The Atheist's Pulpit

Fall Alignment – My Private Solstice

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It happens every fall, this week, probably this day. I see it coming, even months ahead. As the day nears, I watch each morning – how soon? This morning, I first woke at 6am. I wanted to get up then. Lucky made me a morning person, against all odds, but cold, like the grave, is stronger than either of us. I looked at the clock again at 7:46am. When 7:47am clicked over, I got up and stepped out into the hall at the perfect moment, the moment of alignment.

How many times a day do we fail to see these moments when light strikes a mundane spot, turning it into an altar? I observe this special moment each fall, a week before Halloween, and again, each spring, about a week after Valentine’s Day.

Nature’s part in this display exceeds the other parts, but a sequence of steps brought this together. The house built with a door facing east, like half the houses on the block. The niche for a telephone and a laughably thin phone book. The door, added later, with a narrow window at just the right height, just the right shape. The glass pane with two blue spots, a gift from a bridesmaid, added years later to cover that narrow window. The katchina which largely replaced the chaotic clutter I contribute, the little treasures I handle daily and the older stuff I can’t let go of. All made sacred by 30 seconds of light twice a year. I’m grateful to bear witness.

For the first time (in 2009), the circle is notched in the upper-left by one of the bars on our new security door, the latest addition to the layers. The gap marks the inevitability of change and loss.

See the collection of photos grow twice a year: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjhinton/tags/niche/

Updated 10/29/09: See the change 4 days later: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjhinton/4055208123/

First published 10/25/09. Updated 10/26/10. On 10/26/10, I took the first photos at 7:47am — true story. Seems to be the magic moment.

47

Jupiter at its brightest in 47 years [hat tip to Walking Raven]

Jupiter was quite bright on the western horizon at 6am this morning, so early risers may also get to see it.

Jupiter at its brightest in 47 years – Wikinews, the free news source

The planet Jupiter will be at its closest to the Earth since 1963 [Monday] and Tuesday, scientists say. This will cause the planet’s appearance to peak at a brightness and size not seen since then. The planet Uranus will also make a close approach, but will be more difficult to spot, as it is much farther away.

Scientists say that Jupiter will rise at about the time of sunset and will be nearly directly overhead at midnight. The only brighter object that will be in the sky at that time will be the moon. NASA scientist Tony Phillips said "Jupiter is so bright right now, you don’t need a sky map to find it." It will not appear this bright again until 2022.

Jupiter will pass within 368 million miles of Earth at the time of closest approach. Although this will occur on Monday and Tuesday, it will remain large and bright for approximately another month.

During this event, the planet will be located in the sky not far from the moon. Some of the planet’s own moons will be visible with the aid of a telescope or binoculars.

According to NASA scientists, Earth-Jupiter encounters occur about every 13 months. Since both planets’ orbits are slightly elliptical, meaning they are not perfect circles around the Sun, the distance varies in each encounter.

Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, is the fifth planet from the Sun and is more massive than all of the other planets combined, about 318 times as massive as the Earth.

Jupiter at its brightest in 47 years – Wikinews, the free news source

47, NewMexiKen

How many men? [updated]

Just days ago, NewMexiKen reminded us of the conquest of New Mexico by the USA. Nearly 200 years before that, the Pueblo’s gave the boot to the Spanish:

NewMexiKen | The Pueblo Revolt

On this date in 1680, the surviving Spanish settlers under siege decided to abandon Santa Fe and began the trek to Chihuahua. The Spanish did not return to Nuevo México for 12 years. …

The Puebloans removed all signs of the Spanish — the churches, the religion itself, the crops, even the animals (the horses let loose on the plains, eventually transforming the culture of the Plains Indians) [mjh: That fact always blows my mind.]. One vestige remained: one man rule. Popé declared himself that man and moved to the Palace in Santa Fe.

Spanish attempts at reconquest failed until 1692.

NewMexiKen | The Pueblo Revolt

But, wait, there’s more!

The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 By Joseph Sando | Published  07/1/2002

In 1675, Governor Juan de Trevino arrested 47 Pueblo men and charged them with sorcery. Four were hanged and the rest were publicly whipped in the plaza in Santa Fe.

Among those whipped was Popé, of San Juan Pueblo. Upon his return home, Popé began to think of a way to get rid of the Spaniards. He set up meetings that soon included nearby pueblos. The word of an organized Pueblo revolt spread to include Taos, Picuris and Jemez, as well as the Keresan-speaking pueblos of Cochiti and Santo Domingo. The meetings were highly secret, held generally at night, and composed mostly of each pueblo’s war captains.

Five years later, at one of their last meetings, at Tesuque on August 8, 1680, two messengers were detailed to carry a knotted rope showing the number of days before the revolt would begin.

The Pueblo Revolt of 1680

And today, we all live in glorious harmony and love. [Insert cartoon of characters laughing and hugging and suddenly glowering at each other before laughing and hugging again. Loop endlessly.]

PS: OK, yes, what would we (er, I) do without NMK? (Well, I remembered the 47 connection from long before.) I even have a NewMexiKen blog category. (As well as, 47, of course.)

[Update]

This just in: Writing after NewMexiKen about a time before Ken’s subject, but essential to that topic, Rudolfo Carrillo invokes that number, too. It’s all coincidence; it’s all connected.

los que llegaron con caballos y acero – Duke City Fix

Four hundred and seventy years later, there is a large and beautiful shopping mall, miles from the river, named after the man.

los que llegaron con caballos y acero – Duke City Fix

[Update Two]

As chance would have it, the original post floated over to Facebook before the previous update, then found its way into Google Reader at 3:47pm – really! Moreover, Reader said parenthetically “(5 min ago),” but I’ll bet it was just rounding up from 4.7 minutes.

47

Japan takes vending machines to their logical, 47-inch touchscreen extreme — Engadget

Japan takes vending machines to their logical, 47-inch touchscreen extreme — Engadget

this latest spin on the vending machine dispenses with those silly windows unto what you’re buying and furnishes its user with a 47-inch touch panel from which to make his (or her) selection. An embedded camera will recognize your gender and age, allowing the machine to recommend a beverage suitable to whatever stereotype is attached to your particular circumstances.

Japan takes vending machines to their logical, 47-inch touchscreen extreme — Engadget