Here are some "Moon Thoughts" for you, just in case you happen to be one of those special people who enjoys sitting outside on a starry night, looking at the stars and the "man in the moon", for no other reason than to enjoy the beauty of the world around us. If you're not one of those people, it's not very difficult to become one-all it takes is one time and you should be hooked!

People in ancient times believed the moon brought good luck. They also believed the moon was made of silver, hence anything made of silver brought good luck also.
Some people thought the moon meant trouble. A full moon on Sunday was supposed to bring bad luck.
Ancient Greeks believed a baby born on the day of a full moon would be a lucky person.
Other people believed that anyone who fell asleep in the light of the moon would have nightmares and go sleepwalking.

The word "moon" comes from ancient Europeans. They thought moonlight could make you fall madly in love. Today we call someone in love moonstruck.
When the ancient Chinese looked at the dark and light areas of the moon, they pictured a rabbit and a toad. They thought the animals were making magic medicine.
Some Europeans said the moon was made of green cheese. They didn't mean the color green. "Green" also means fresh. Freshly made cheese has dark spots that look like dark areas on the moon.

Whatever your beliefs about predicting the weather, here are some common and popular folklore sayings that have been passed down to us from our forefathers. Some of them are as predictable as the most sophisticated weather gadgets our modern weather forecasters use!

If there is a brilliant display of Northern Lights, this is a sign that war is coming. This was true in the fall of 1941.
When smoke lies close to the ground instead of rising, it is a sign of rain coming.
Heat lightening in the north means rain within 48 hours.
A red ring around the moon means a bad storm.
If the husks on the corn get thick, it's going to be a hard winter.
A ring around the moon in winter means snow.
When big snowflakes start to fall it means the snow will stop very soon.
When there's lightning, put a glass or water in the window to keep the house from getting struck(I think we did that when I was young!).
If a thunderstorm occured right after a funeral, the dead person was presumed to have gone to heaven(maybe an off-shoot from the Bible: after Jesus died there was a terrible storm).
When it's dark and stormy and you see white clouds, a wind is going to come.
Weather is controlled by "dog days" which happen in July when it is very hot and things spoil easily. If dog days come in wet, it will rain for 40 days; if dry, there will be a drought.

If the sun shines when it is raining, the Devil is beating his wife.
Thunder is the sound of the elves bowling.
The whirlwinds which scoop up the dust across the fields are transportation for faeries and elves.
Sun rays after a storm mean God is drawing water back up for the angels.
Snow is the angels having a pillow fight.
Rain is angel tears.
Thunder is God dragging trunks around in his attic.
A red sunset means angels are making cookies.

". . .The Northmen look upon the oak as a holy tree; and as on this holy tree they found the mistletoe growing green in winter, they held it sacred to Baldur, the Sun God. . .The myth of Baldur. . .tells how the Sun God, after having been put to death through the treachery of dark hearted Hoedur, had risen to life again. So the mistletoe-of living green, when all the trees of the forest seemed dead-was chosen as his emblem, and every year the Goths and Scandinavians decorated their homes with its boughs.

If a friend greeted another beneath a bough of mistletoe, it was in the spirit of love and friendship. . .

The actual origin of the use of Christmas trees. . .dates from before the Christian era, when the Romans made use of pine trees in their festivities at certain times of the year. The pine trees were laden with little earthenware images sacred to the gods. . .It was among the Goths, some of the Germans and the Scandinavians that trees were first adorned at Christmas time for the express purpose of delighting children.

These people celebrated the advent of the winter solstice very elaborately, and the chief item of their programme was the erection in every house of a tree decorated with burning tapers. . ."

If one of your goals in life is to live to the ripe old age of 100, here are Sir John Sawyer's 19 rules for living to the century mark:

1. Eight hours' sleep.
2. Sleep on your right side.
3. Keep your bedroom window open all night.
4. Have a mat to your bedroom door.
5. Do not have your bedstead against the wall.
6. No cold water in the morning, but a bath at the temperature of the body.
7. Exercise before breakfast.
8. Eat little meat and see that it is well cooked.
9. For adults: drink no milk.
10. Eat plenty of fat to destroy the feed cells which destroy seed germs.
11. Avoid intoxicants, which destroy those cells.
12. Daily exercise in the open air.
13. Allow no pets in your living room.
14. Live in the country if you can.
15. Watch the three D's-Drinking water, damp, drains.
16. Have change of occupation.
17. Take frequent and short holidays.
18. Limit your ambition.
19. Keep your temper.

In 1854 jugglers were prohibited from entering the borough of York.

In the "Gay Nineties" a person could be thrown in jail for throwing a banana peel on the sidewalk.

Back in the horse and buggy days of the 1870's, "speedsters" could be arrested for riding their horses through town faster than a slow trot.

In 1891, it was forbidden to play cards on the public highways.

According to a York statute passed in 1802, fiddlers could not play music for dancing, especially during the York Fair.(caused the morals of the youth to become debauched)

Anyone selling books in 1859 could be fined $500.

In 1883, it was a crime for a woman to dress like a man, and vice versa. Violators could be fined one dollar.

When I lived in Baltimore, I attended a deaf church. The minister was a "hearing" minister, but both of his parents were deaf. The choir was deaf and signed all the anthems. I took many of the sign language classes offered through the church and learned to sign The Lord's Prayer, which was a highlight of the program. All the novices who successfully learned this were heartily congratulated by the church members(both hearing and deaf) after the service. It was a great feeling!

In June 1998, Western Maryland College in Westminster, MD became the first college to offer a master of science degree in American Sign Language. Western Maryland already has the largest graduate school program in deaf education. Now, it has expanded its reach with the American Sign Language Specialist Program to qualify people to teach sign language. This program is the first of its kind, in that it teaches those who use ASL as their first language and also those for whom it is a second language. Courses originally began in 1968 to train teachers to teach the deaf. The college focused on "total communication", which included sign language from birth. Gallaudet University in Washington is the only liberal arts university in the world specifically for the deaf and hard-of-hearing students. It offers a proficiency program for interpreters of ASL, but does not offer a degree program.

Having also attended Western Maryland College, I am really proud of this direction they're taking. Anything that opens up better communication among all us human beings is certainly ok in my book! 'Way to go WMC!

Don't let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.
Since hate poisons the soul do not cherish enmities or grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.
Don't hold postmortems. Don't spend your life brooding over sorrows and mistakes. Don't be one who never gets over things.
Keep busy at something. A busy person never has time to be unhappy.
Do the things you enjoy doing, but stay out of debt.
Don't take yourself too seriously. No one has everything, and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with the gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.

Robert Louis Stevenson