January 17 – Pastor Charles Perez of the Barryville Community Church has found a new larger space for his church. The church is now located at 3396 Route 97 in Barryville next to the Oasis Bar and the Barryville Bodega and the relocation service and the opening last Sunday served as a celebration of Three Kings Day. In Hispanic culture Three Kings Day also referred to as “Little Christmas” marks the end of the Twelve Days of the Christmas season and in many households-including mine as a child, it marked the day the family Christmas tree was taken down. Three Kings from the East tradition is one of the oldest celebrations in the church in Mexico and throughout the Latino world-and what I like about it is that it is centerd around children. The day before the Kings Day celebration, children write letters to the Three Kings asking for gifts and treats. There is customary special foods served on the day and in New York City there is a street parade in East Harlem where children dress up as the kings and throw candy to those attending. And Pastor Perez and his wife Jenny and his children had a wonderful Three Kings celebration for the community to open the new church. The Barryville Community Church holds services on Sunday mornings starting at 10:00am. For more information about the church’s programs and upcoming events email the-BarryvilleCommunityChurch@gmail.com, check their Facebook site or call Pastor Perez at 973-901-2903.

I am a big fan of astronomy and the pitch-black nights with little light pollution we have are so wonderful to view the heavens-and there is a spectacular event coming up very soon. It’s called the “green comet” (or C/2022E3-ZFT) and its only visible every 50,000 years -no that isn’t a typo. 50,000 years ago when the comet last made its appearance and streaked through the sky is known as Upper Palaeolithic Period- or the Old Stone Age where the use of tools and fire began and Homo Sapiens were just starting their capacity for human language. 

The Green Comet was only discovered last year by astronomer Bryce Bolin at Caltech in California. According to the Planetary Society, this particular comet is observed so rarely because it travels around the sun and then to the outer reaches of our solar system-a long journey and a very long time to be visible again on earth. Using telescopes and binoculars stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere should be able to spot the comet low on the northeastern horizon just before midnight and be visible most of January and towards the end of the month it can be seen without binoculars. This icy comet brightens as it gets closer contact with the Sun, and it will make its nearest pass of Earth between Wednesday, February 1st and Thursday, the 2nd. Lucky star observers will be able to spot it near the North Star (Polaris) in the early evening. Look for the comet’s slashing tail of dust and particles as well as a glowing green aura around it-like a green smudge near the North Star (the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper). The “green comet” arrival is a big deal and it’s being covered by the mainstream media outlets. There is a lot of information available now or you can geek out like me and follow NASA on Instagram and see beautiful photographs and get a lot of information about space. I find it keeps me grounded!