FULL MOON

This may sound kooky, but I have a “Full Moon Theory” and have been formally researching and recording the weather patterns around the Full Moon (the world’s most wonderful and natural night-light) every month for about five years now.   

Based on my rather crude but totally meticulous research , I deem my theory to be pretty solid.  And I’m more than happy to share it with you.

The research itself may be fairly recent but I’ve been casually observing and noting the wonders of the Full Moon for a very long time, all over the world, over many years.  I noticed certain patterns, devised a theory, put it to the test and, based on results, realised there was indeed something in this theory. 

Oddly, there didn’t seem to be any information “out there” that linked to my observations or theory.  I had never read or heard anyone talk about this theory.   And this still seems to be the case.  I’ve yet to hear someone else espousing my theory. 

There are loads of layers to the theory which I won’t go into here, but ... you likely heard it here first!

Even NASA doesn’t seem aware of it.  They are trying to launch a very delicate Space Balloon from Wanaka, NZ, and it has been going wrong.  Mission aborted, time and time again, due to wind.  I have emailed them to suggest coinciding the launch with a Full Moon (it WILL be calm) – but they are still trying to launch without success and without a Full Moon.  And with too much wind.  So far their launch attempts have failed. We’ll see if they take my hint and get success.  

MY THEORY:  In simple form - plan a party or event to coincide with a Full Moon, the weather will be good, no Plan B required!

Trust me – the weather is usually glorious at Full Moon.  Think about it – when the moon is full, you notice it.  You look up and see it shining brilliantly in the sky – a bright torch lighting the way, right?

Even if the weather around the time of the Full Moon is less than perfect, even mid-worst-winter, the best time of a bad weather cycle will be when that Full Moon hits it peak.  It will be calm, if nothing else.  We can cope with cloud or the occasional slight misty shower if we’re having a party.  We absolutely must avoid torrential rain and high winds.  Subscribe to my Full Moon theory, and you’ll be okay on the night!

How often have you marvelled at the sight of a Full Moon in a clear inky cloudless sky?  How often have you commented about what a fabulous sight that moon is?  What a bright and glorious evening it is?  Quite often, I would imagine, unless you don’t venture out much at night.

In summer, the weather is generally more stable, so nice weather is more the norm.  But even in mid-winter, when the weather is likely to be dreary, dismal or downright miserable, whenever a Full Moon is scheduled to rise into the night sky, the odds are that the weather will clear and a bright calm night will befall you.  The moon will always do its very best to shine through and clear the sky of pesky clouds and ease the wind.  Whilst it is impossible to control cyclones or hurricanes or once-in-a-blue-moon weather woes, the best of the weather, no matter the season, will coincide with the Full Moon.

What’s a BLUE MOON? 
It’s when a Full Moon falls twice in the same month – doesn’t happen very often.  Hence the saying.

Recent Research

The April 2016 Full Moon was the most recent prior to this post, and it fell on the evening of Friday 22^nd April.  Despite less than favourable forecasts, it was stunning here in Auckland.  And around the country too, judging by comments from those dotted around the place.  The theory literally shone again.

There have been a couple of glitches over the years when the weather wasn’t totally perfect – but still, it was calm, and it was the best day/night of a bad weather blip – which actually ended up to be much better than forecast, thanks to the Full Moon being present.    Nothing is guaranteed, especially when it comes to weather – but my Full Moon theory has plenty of well-researched merit.

Suffice to say, I always organise a party on a Full Moon and encourage others to do the same.  We’ve never been let down.

Some of my friends were rather dubious about this theory (I do think they thought I was quite mad!) – but, month after month, as my theory has proved correct (and their parties not ruined as horrible weather forecasts predicted), most of them are now fully convinced!

The next Full Moon is at 9.14am on Saturday 22^nd May (NZ peak) – which means Friday 21^st will be the night to party ... the timing falls differently depending on where you are in the world - but let me know how it is in your neck of the woods.  I’m predicting it’ll be good! 
And I think NASA should launch their Space Balloon then.

Easter Dates

Ever wondered how Easter dates are determined?
As we know, Easter can bring fabulous weather, or it can be dreadful.  It’s all on account of when the Full Moon falls – which determines the dates of Easter. 

Check out my separate post about how Easter Dates are set.

And Hey, it was a full moon last Christmas 2015 ... I bet it was a good day at your place!
Next Christmas Full Moon coming 2034.

Full Moon rises over Mt Victoria, Wellington- photo by Mark Gee

Take a look at this stunning video of this exceptional moonrise over Wellington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehulHtKfpuM

ENVY & JEALOUSY

Envy is when you wish you had what someone else has.

Jealousy is when you wish the other person didn’t have it either.

(From my "Pocketful of Meaning")

Are these green eyes perhaps?

ICE CRAVING (aka Pagophagia)

(NB: Best to read my Iron Deficiency/Anaemia post first, for context).

Pica is the generic term for a craving for unusual non-nutritive substances such as paper, clay, metal, chalk, soil, sand etc.   It can affect pregnant women and people with autism or mental disorders.  

Pagophagia is the specific term used for a compulsive craving for ice.  It is associated with severe anaemia.  I suffered from a very serious, yet temporary, case of anaemia - and consequently Pagophagia - about a year ago.  The sudden onset of an addiction to popsicles (Fruitys in particular) coincided with severe anaemia – although I was unaware I had either condition at the time.  I just felt a bit under the weather and thought I’d gone a bit mad.

In all honesty, this addiction to popsicles was one of the strangest things that had ever happened to me, creeping up on me like a nasty wayward vine and latching on tight.  I didn’t even like popsicles but I went rather quickly from having one or two a day, to consuming up to 15 a day.  Sometimes more.  I was eating popsicles for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, and any time in between.  My desire for popsicles was uncontrollable and escalated exponentially, as my craving grew.  Weird indeed.

It was the height of a hot summer and, strange as it was, I just put it down to a new and rather odd phase in my life – quenching my summer thirst with popsicles.  I simply couldn’t stop myself guzzling the things in huge quantities.   If supply ran out, I would race out and buy more, any time of day or night.  If I couldn’t do that, I would suck ice cubes.  I just had this insane need for something cold.

Alongside this irrational and irrepressible desire to eat popsicles, I was diagnosed with severe anaemia, which was treated with iron tablets and, ultimately, an iron infusion.  [See separate post about Iron Deficiency/Anaemia.]

Immediately after the infusion, the craving was gone in an instant.  Just like that.  The last thing in the world I wanted was a popsicle.  This sudden voluntary “cold turkey” was as weird and sudden as the craving itself had been.  To this day, I have had no further desire whatsoever for a popsicle.  I tried one a few weeks later, out of interest, and loathed it.  I couldn’t even finish it and wondered how on earth I could have eaten so many with such desperation.

This sudden change in popsicle habit led me to research what might have caused my bizarre craving.  As it turns out, I was suffering from Pagophagia – ice craving.  Commonly associated with severe anaemia, it is an instinctive behaviour that keeps blood flowing to the brain and heart, the two vital organs.  Sucking on something so cold concentrates the little amount of oxygen that is flowing around an anaemic body to go straight to these organs keep them going.  This explains why my arms and legs were barely working, they had to miss out on oxygen as it was diverted to brain and heart.  It all made perfect sense.

So, alarmingly, I learnt that, in reality, it was this popsicle craving that kept me going.  A mechanism kicked in, some primal message telling me to eat cold ice, and this saved me.  It kept me alive, at a time when I didn’t know what was going on with me or how critical my condition was. 

The ice craving made me consume cold ice, which in turn helped my vital organs function and made me feel [relatively] okay.  This in turn disguised that something was wrong (although I knew something wasn’t right), which helped me through the day and enabled me to function, even though I probably shouldn’t have been capable of doing anything at all.

I really thought I was bordering on madness when this ice obsession was at full throttle.  I would chain-eat popsicles and wonder what on earth I was doing, but I was completely unable to stop myself or explain this ridiculous compulsion.

Now all is clear.

IMPORTANT: If you find yourself with an uncontrollable urge to eat copious amounts of ice or popsicles – get checked out for anaemia!

Tequila Sunrise - with ice! (Painted after a tropical holiday!)

IRON DEFICIENCY / ANAEMIA

To clarify the basics …

Ferritin is responsible for storing and releasing iron.  Iron deficiency is when ferritin levels in the body are low, which means your body is not storing iron well.

Haemoglobin transports red blood cells around the body, providing oxygen to body tissues to enable you to function. Iron deficiency anaemia (or just anaemia) occurs when iron levels get critically low and red blood cells are starved of iron, meaning vital organs don’t get oxygen.  If your haemoglobin level is low, iron deficiency anaemia is the result.  The condition is not that uncommon and has a variety of causes and levels of severity but, at its most serious, anaemia can be a life-threatening condition if not diagnosed and treated.  It can ultimately cause your heart to shut down. 

And now, here’s my real-life story of severe iron deficiency anaemia (early 2015) …

It was nothing hugely noticeable but, gradually, over time, I started feeling a little weak and under the weather.  Nothing specific, just a bit of fatigue and a woolly head and I put it down to sinus or hayfever (never had either in all my life - and by now I was 52!)  
As the weeks passed, I began to feel really tired all the time, to the point where I was struggling to do what I needed to do.  But being a get-up-and-go sort of person all my life, and always generally healthy (my doctor has always joked he could never get rich on account of me!) it didn't alarm me too much, although it was a tad unusual for me to feel so lethargic.  More of a nuisance factor than anything else. 

When I got up in the morning, I would feel a little dizzy, and was pretty slow to get going but I'm NOT a morning person, so bouncing around in the morning wasn't my usual behaviour anyway.  Once I was up and about, I felt okay and became my usual busy self and got on with the day.   Life was too busy to be getting sick.  I had work to do, people to take care of, projects to complete.  I carried on, despite the nagging tiredness.

Meanwhile, I began to crave popsicles.  Now, I’ve been known to enjoy the odd Fruju on occasion, on a hot day at the beach, but popsicles have never been on my menu.  And here I was, eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It was a warm summer and I just put it down to a weird and sudden urge to eat something cold.  Little did I know I was in the throes of pagophagia, a condition associated with severe anaemia.  [See separate post called Ice Craving.]

Beam us forward a bit, and the time came when I just didn’t feel right at all.  My mind was fuzzy, my heart was racing and I could barely take two steps without feeling exhausted. And I most certainly had a weird popsicle addiction! 
When I got out of bed one day and simply couldn’t stand up, collapsing back in a heap, I knew something was wrong and off to the doctor I went.  
It turned out my heart rate was up and blood tests were not good.  My haemoglobin count was dangerously low and my thyroid was in a severe state of over-activity.  I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and, most alarmingly, extreme anaemia.  My haemoglobin count was 66g/L.  Normal is 115-155g/L.  My doctor was surprised I was even standing.  Truth be known, I was barely functioning.   I was stunned about everything.
The anaemia seemed to be due to a long slow depletion of iron.  No idea what might have caused the hyperthyroidism.
My anaemia was critical.  No real answers as to why either condition had befallen me, but they both needed fixing.  And fast. 

I was immediately put on iron tablets and thyroid medication and monitored.  I then had an iron infusion – a mega-burst of intravenous iron.  Almost instantaneously, after the infusion, I felt normal again, alive and alert and full of energy.  The thought of a popsicle absolutely repulsed me.  The craving was gone.  (More explanation around all this very bizarre condition in separate Ice Craving post).

Subsequent blood tests have shown everything is fine and my haemoglobin levels remain normal. More than a year later and all is fine.

IMPORTANT: If you feel unusually fatigued, your mind is fuzzy and you aren’t functioning properly, get to your doctor and get a blood test.  Living in an anaemic state is no fun, and it can be treated easily.

"Freedom" (ink on paper on board) - tones of blood red!

BYRON BAY

BYRON BAY

Byron Bay, place of easy summer living with a dose of global boho, is an easy day trip from the Gold Coast. Well, actually, not so easy when you're travelling in the very back of a Kia Carnival people mover lurching and rocking its way along the highway on a rather windy day!  No matter, we are on a road trip; three couples off down the coast to explore what's on offer. 

We arrive in this much-hyped township where soft white sand and rolling waves stretch either way up the coast, as to be expected, and the bright white lighthouse stands proudly on the headland.  Cape Byron - most easterly point of Australia.   

The beach itself is the usual formula, nice in every way.  The surf is not really pumping today but the water looks inviting and there are plenty of people frolicking in the sea.  'See' being the operative word here.  Bikinis and bods and babes and boardies everywhere. The bold and beautiful of Byron Bay are out in force. 

Shops with quirky names offer colourful collections of all things summery and the burgers for lunch at the iconic hotel opposite the beach taste extra good when matched with rose, an ocean view and easy banter.

The beach is reasonably crowded in the early afternoon heat and, here in NSW, it's school holiday time.  And, as it always is here, tourist time.  All manner of languages and accents abound, floating on the breeze.  I declare the people-watching to be more intriguing and unpredictable than the breaking waves. 

People of all nationalities are enjoying summer bliss as a small boy from a far-off land suddenly falls off the path into some rocks in a bawling heap.  The bad brother who caused the catastrophe gets a telling off in a Balkan language and runs off in gleeful defiance of his svelte young blond mum.  An English duo next to me are bickering and an old guy who looks like he's been directly transported from a Croatian beach struts along muttering aloud in a harmlessly happy manner.  Girls in short shorts wander by in groups. Newly arrived backpackers survey the scene in excited awe.  Surf dudes are a dime a dozen. 

There are kids squealing with delight and others screaming as they are popped under beach showers to rinse off hot summer sun and sand.  I can spot as many buggies as surfboards. Actually, more.  Exasperated parents merge with young carefree couples who have barely thought about parenthood.

There's an essence to the locals, easier to observe than explain.  Bronzed young women stroll with bohemian elegance, most with long sun-bleached hair teamed with maxi dress and accompanied by a mini-me.  Groups of young guys ooze an easy summer vibe in the streets, discussing surfboards and point breaks as if they were the most vital things on earth.  In this part of 'Straya' they possibly are.

It's wall to wall bikinis here.  No matter which part of the world you hail from, being seen at your beach-best is all part of the equation.  Sadly, they haven't yet banned mature men from wearing Speedos but they probably should start thinking about a bye-law.  Although this is probably more urgent back on the Gold Coast. 

The horizon darkens and a tropical downpour is brewing out to sea.  A couple of hours later, as we are enjoying a relaxing wine, the rain comes in a sudden and heavy burst.  The temperature drops a notch or two but the warmth remains.  

As the locals batten down the hatches with practiced ease, we pile aboard the Kia and make our way back to Queensland.  Problem is, it's raining even harder back in Broadbeach. We decide to go for a Thai meal not far from our apartment.   Getting  there means getting wet but the food is delicious and as we reflect on a relaxed and highly pleasant day over a hearty red wine, all is well with the world. 

GOLD COAST

Sunny, warm and with golden sands this is a place that has evolved with holiday mode in mind. I write from a lovely apartment on the 38th floor of Oracle Towers in Broadbeach. Everything is on our doorstep and the Pacific Ocean sprawls from the floor to ceiling windows.

The cluster of high rise towers in Surfers Paradise lies just to the north and the Gold Coast racecourse is to the west.  Way down below is the Kurrawa Surf Club where we dined last night - a bustling place where happy families eat huge meals overlooking the ocean.  No shortage of eateries around here and there is seafood galore.

The new tram system is excellent, running the length of the coast from Broadbeach South to University Hospital (takes about half an hour). Cheap and efficient, it's a most excellent way to get around.

With many shopping options and attractions and both everything and nothing on offer, you can soak up the laid back vibe or fill every second with action.

Yesterday it was a leisurely stroll, a beer by the beach, a poke in the shops, a wine and seafood combo meal and chatting over Baileys on ice as the waves crashed in the darkness.

Today we are off to explore Byron Bay down in NSW ... that's my next Two Words post!!

Broadbeach ... Our apartment tower on left

Towards Surfers' Paradise