Daniel Salzler No. 1074
EnviroInsight.org 5 Items October 30, 2020
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1. Staying Safe Halloween Night. Halloween is always a concern when children, buzzing with a sugar high running up and down the streets, darting from one side of the street to the other.
This year, we all have to be vigilant about the number of people we travel with and how close we get to hand out candy to the young ones. With covid-19 cases on the rise again, over 73,0000 cases per day nationwide, you must protect yourself and the children and their parents who visit your home.
There are many ways to give out candy safely, and wearing a mask only really protects the parents and people handing out the candy. Pre-think your position. I will be on my driveway placing a few pieces of candy in a CFC free recyclable Styrofoam cup and will ask the children to dump the contents of the cup into their container.
Does your community have a mask-up ordinance? Be like 95% of people across the country- wear a mask!
Make the most of this silly holiday.
2. What is the difference between Influenza (Flu) and COVID-19
Signs and Symptoms
Similarities:
Both COVID-19 and flu can have varying degrees of signs and symptoms, ranging from no symptoms (asymptomatic) to severe symptoms. Common symptoms that COVID-19 and flu share include:
- Fever or feeling feverish/chills
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue (tiredness)
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Muscle pain or body aches
- Headache
- Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults
Differences:
While COVID-19 and flu viruses are thought to spread in similar ways, COVID-19 is more contagious among certain populations and age groups than flu. Also, COVID-19 has been observed to have more superspreading events than flu. This means the virus that causes COVID-19 can quickly and easily spread to a lot of people and result in continuous spreading among people as time progresses.
People at High-Risk for Severe Illness
Similarities:
Both COVID-19 and flu illness can result in severe illness and complications. Those at highest risk include:
- Older adults
- People with certain underlying medical conditions
- Pregnant people
Differences:
The risk of complications for healthy children is higher for flu compared to COVID-19. However, infants and children with underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for both flu and COVID-19.
Flu Young children are at higher risk of severe illness fr1om flu.
People at High Risk for Flu Complications
COVID-19
School-aged children infected with COVID-19 are at higher risk of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a rare but severe complication.
Flu
Most people who get flu will recover in a few days to less than two weeks, but some people will develop complications, some of these complications are listed above.
Flu complications
COVID-19
Additional complications associated with COVID-19 can include:
- Blood clots in the veins and arteries of the lungs, heart, legs or brain
- Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)
COVID-19 Emergency warning signs
Source: CDC.gov
3. Astroshed : What’s In The Sky At Night. Once In A Blue Moon on Halloween.
The Halloween full moon is also known as a “blue” moon because it’s the second full moon of the month.
Halloween night will feature the moon event of the year.
For the first time in decades, there will be a full moon visible across the entire U.S. on Halloween night, Oct. 31.
The last time that a full moon was seen in all U.S. time zones on Halloween was 1944, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. The next time we’ll see an equally spooky Halloween full moon is 2039, so plan your werewolf costumes accordingly.
Usually months have only one full moon, but occasionally a second one sneaks in, NASA said. Full moons are separated by 29 days, while most months are 30 or 31 days long; so it is possible to fit two full moons in a single month.
This happens every 2½ years, on average. Fun fact: Every full moon on Halloween is a blue moon, because moon cycles are 29.5 days long and Halloween is always on Oct. 31.
(There is an alternate definition of a blue moon: When there are four full moons in a single season, the third is considered a blue moon, the Farmers Almanac said.)
Of course, the moon won’t appear blue on Halloween night. It will be the same color it’s always been.
Blue-colored moons in photos are usually made using special blue camera filters or in a post-processing program such as PhotoShop, according to Earthsky.org. But there are rare occasions when a moon does take on a bluish hue, CNN reports.
Smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, such as during a major volcanic eruption, can result in a blue-looking moon. In addition to being called a blue moon, Halloween’s full moon is also called the Hunter’s moon. “Many moons ago, Native Americans named this bright moon for obvious reasons,” the Farmer’s Almanac said. “The leaves are falling from trees, the deer are fattened, and it’s time to begin storing up meat for the long winter ahead.”The first full moon of the month, on Oct. 1, was known as the Harvest moon. Source: https://www.wickedlocal.com/news/20201027/once-in-blue-moon-get-ready-for-halloween-full-moon
4. Lack Of Fall Colors In Mountain Trees. If you live in the mountains or have traveled to the mountains to see the vibrant fall colors, you were disappointed. The fall leaf colors were something less than Ho-Hum. Why?
In order to have brilliant colors in the leaves of deieous trees requires a certain amount of rainfall (amount depends on the tree and altitude) and cold temperatures. Apparently, Arizona mountains received neither. Just another 2020 anomoly!
5. The History of Halloween. Halloween is a holiday celebrated each year on October 31, and Halloween 2020 will occur on Saturday, October 31. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating treats.
Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the 19th century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.
In the second half of the 19th century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally.
Borrowing from European traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.
Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats.
Thus, a new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.
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