Annie was only twenty-three months old when we took her to see her first comet atop Moon Mountain. Sky watching was a hobby of mine, introduced to me as a child by my Cherokee grandmother, and I was eager to share it with my daughter. Genetti’s Comet would be sharing the sky with a total lunar eclipse-a rare enough event to warrant mention of it in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Moon Mountain wasn’t really a mountain, but rather a largish hill and the perfect vantage point for celestial happenings. According to my grandmother, who was widely known for her eccentricities, it was a place with strong unknown powers. She called it a sacred place to the Cherokee Indians, who had inhabited this part of the country for centuries. The line around which something spins is called an axis. The Earth's axis is tilted at an angle. The Earth’s tilt is the reason for the changing seasons. The Earth spins three hundred and sixty five times in one year. That’s why we have three hundred and sixty five days in a year.

At this point in the orbit, the Earth’s tilt means that the southern hemisphere is facing more towards the Sun. This means that the light and heat from the Sun is more direct and stronger. The days are the longest in the year and the nights, the shortest. This is summer in the southern hemisphere. Rowan added: “I have been in several of Dorchester’s community plays with my family and they have changed our lives. The 4 stars is an average of the two books, book 1 was quite good with just a few soft spots. But book 2 couldn't hold me till it's conclusion though it showed a lot of promise. I may have out grown gothic novels though... Spinning the Moon is at Thomas Hardye Theatre, Tuesday to Thursday April 4-6 at 7.30pm, Saturday, April 8 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm and Monday to Saturday April 10-15 at 7.30pm.

It is the seventh community production staged by Dorchester, more than any other town in the world, and is a semi-historical, researched tale of social change, divided family loyalty, witchcraft and Spanish monarchy set around Dorchester and Abbotsbury shortly after the Wars of the Roses. Whispers of Goodbye tells of Catherine, summoned by her sister's letter to post-war Louisiana, who discovers upon arrival that her sister has disappeared. She learns of the misery and scandals her self-centered sister has caused, and despite her own grief over losing her son and husband the previous year, falls in love with her niece and brother-in-law. Shortly after her sister's body is found, Catherine marries John, yet harbors doubts about his potential guilt and fears learning the truth.

In effect, the moon may rotate very slowly, but its rotation is key to important events, such as the tides, on Earth. An engaging and guileless little girl, Annie had inherited equal parts from each parent. She had bright green eyes and an odd crescent-shaped birthmark on the inside of her forearm from her mother, and fair hair and perfectly shaped ears from her father. But her little personality was all her own. She was everything I could have wanted in a child.

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Winter is when the northern hemisphere (where we live) is tilted away from the Sun. Sunlight hits the northern hemisphere at a shallow angle. This spreads sunlight over a wide area so it is weaker and less warm. Winter has the coldest weather and the longest nights of the year. I dreamed I was running through darkness. My legs were leaden weights and would not propel me toward a dim light shining though the murkiness. A pervading sense of loss enveloped me, and I knew escape was neither imminent nor possible. A loud whirring sound buzzed in my ear and I turned my head from side to side to make it stop.