While people of good will, and rivaling romantic inclinations, may forever disagree about the size of the moon at moonrise (is it larger on the horizon than straight overhead?), there was no disagreement about the size of the moon these past two nights. The moon is at its perigee, the closest spot on its elliptical orbit around the earth. Which means that it is very close to us indeed, and therefore bigger and brighter than any other time of the year. (14% wider and 30% brighter than lesser Moons to be precise) Indeed, the skylights in my house did seem to pour in more light to navigate by, filling the halls with comforting, almost angelic, guidance. This neighborliness will not happen again until next year, January 30, 2010 - when the moon’s appearance will be a two-fer: a blue moon (the second full moon in one secular month) and a perigee moon.

As for the cat litter: I have always wondered about the best way to dispose of the standard clay cat litter I have been using all these years (tending to my son’s cat). The answer seems to be, there is no good way to dispose of cat litter. It is not compostible, can’t flush it away, so one has to landfill it. Not the solution I was seeking. And then I found what many of you may have already discovered: Swheat Scoop. Now, I am not endorsing this particular product. I imagine there are others on the market like it. But, as its name declares, it is made from wheat and therefore fully compostible or flushable. It does not kick up the dust cloud clay litters do; it absorbs all that litter is made to absorb; clumps adequately - although not as well as some clay litters, but that is a small price to pay - and doesn’t get stuck on little cat feet, and therefore doesn’t get tramped around the house, the way clay litter does.

The one thing I don’t know, in this world of growing food insecurity, is what part of the wheat this is made of and how it impacts the wheat crop. My hope - and expectation - is that this is the chafe, at least that is what it looks like - and so this is doubly good, using what is waste anyway. I will try to find out and get back to you on that.

But at least for now there is one less waste item I need to worry about.