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MOV Climate Corner: A challenge and an opportunity

2024 has been a year of climate-related disasters. On Dec. 19, Reuters published one photo from each of the countries mentioned in its coverage this year: of the 125 countries, 22, or more than 15%, of the images featured the aftermath of floods, wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, or heat waves, and this in a year that saw political upheavals and wars across the globe. In the United States alone, wildfires burned 8.4 million acres, a million and a half more than the average of the last ten years, which have seen historically high fire numbers. The eighteen named storms of the Atlantic ...

The Christmas message for adults

Christmas is for kids, right? Almost everything about Christmas excites children – the music, sweets, lights, and other decorations. Television shows like Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman and the Grinch are annual favorites. Christmas traditions like searching for a tree or holiday baking make memories the kids will cherish for the rest of their lives. Waking up on Christmas morning to a tree surrounded by gifts makes the average kid think that “visions of sugarplums” sounds boring! Kids enjoy working in school or in Sunday School to make gifts for their parents; they can’t wait ...

Christmas Past

Christmas in early America was far from the mega-event of today. Customs varied widely, mostly carried over from England. Christmas there in the late 1600s lasted for two weeks, from December 25 to Twelfth Day, January 6. One writer summarized the activities as “rowdy celebrations including ...

MOV Climate Corner: The Solstice and Our Fragile Balance

This morning at 4:21 AM, as most of us in West Virginia were still in bed, the Earth paused. Today marks the winter solstice — the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. At this precise moment, our planet, wobbling on its 23-degree axial tilt, stopped leaning away from the sun and began tilting back toward it. The term “solstice” originates from the Latin solstitium, meaning “sun standing still,” symbolizing this fleeting moment of stillness before the Earth shifts its course. This axial tilt is vital for life, shaping our seasons and ...

Solstice has marked the passage of time for eons

It’s official. Winter is here. Well, it will be at 4:19 this afternoon. The first day of winter is more than a simple day on the calendar, it is a celestial event that people have been studying for thousands of years. The winter solstice has been marked by civilizations for eons. Everyone knows that the earth orbits the earth once a year. Because the earth is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees we have seasons. When the top of the axis tilts away from earth we get winter in the northern hemisphere, and we get less daylight. Today the tilt, in relation to the sun, is on the side ...

Six Generations – Carpenter

On Nov. 29 Luka Scott Carpenter, held, was born to Tyson Carpenter, top left, and Harmony Hughs, not pictured, making six living generations to the family. Grandparents are Matt, not pictured, and Wendy Carpenter, second from top left, Great Grandparents are Martin Gibbs, third from top left, ...