This month the full moon is February 20, but if you find yourself wondering for about 50 minutes that night what the heck that dark orb with the bright orange outline is in the sky, it’s the moon. The East Coast will have a good look at a total eclipse of the moon when the sun, the earth, and the moon all line up perfectly next Wednesday evening. The partial eclipse will begin at about 8:43 pm in our neck of the woods and between 10:01 and 10:51 pm, the moon will be totally engulfed in the earth’s shadow. Let’s hope for a clear night so we don’t miss this astronomical event.

It seems that pocket pups are becoming the rage. The American Kennel Club lists four out of the top ten most popular dog breeds as the tiny Yorkshire terrier, the Dachshund, poodles, and the Shih Tzu, with their little buddies the Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, and pugs clambering up into the top 15. You know what I say: if you want a cat-sized dog, get a cat. But then, I’m a little biased. I’m actually not sure where to place the bulldog, number 10 on the charts. They aren’t big, but I sure wouldn’t want one in my pocketbook.

Kendall Zimmerman, who shared her Peace Corps experiences with The Bee this past winter, is back in Mozambique for her second year of teaching at Mucoque Secondary School, the 11th grade, this year. She shares in her recent blog, “The school is being structured differently because we are sharing our space with a new university that is arriving in Vilankulo next week ... the gist of it is that all of the 8th, 9th, and 10th grade classes are being held at the old secondary school in the middle in town, while our school is just responsible for 11th and 12th.”

Kendall is also busy with a few new projects in the works for her students and fellow teachers, including an English club where English can be studied in a less formal setting with fewer students. “I have also gotten other teachers involved who would like to come to the club meetings to help. This is great because as volunteers we want our projects to be self-sustaining, and be able to continue after we are gone. Also, one focus of Peace Corps is to transfer ideas and information between volunteers and counterparts that we work with in Mozambique. Doing the club with other teachers is an excellent opportunity to share teaching methods and activities to improve how English is taught in Vilankulo,” blogs Kendall.

Showing her tenacity, she is determined this year to teach computers. The school, however, still does not have the electricity to use the computers she is told, nor is she sure of the condition of or the programs installed in the 40 computers in the lab. She may be sending out a plea for help when she gets underway, I suspect.

Kendall’s big news is that her dog, Gus, had four puppies while she was home in Newtown this winter. Maybe that should be Gussie? At any rate, Kendall is happy and feeling good about the upcoming year in Mozambique, her last serving for the Peace Corps. Good luck, Kendall!

All this talk of pups and puppies is wearing me down. I’m going to curl up with my Valentine’s Day chocolates and hope that next week you will… Read me again.