waxing

waxing\WAK-sing\ , verb;
1. To increase in extent, quantity, intensity or power.
2. (Of the moon) to increase in the extent of its illuminated portion before the full moon.
3. To grow or become.

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The moon has been waxing full over the last couple of weeks and we're now in a full moon. I might need to howl tonight. (Correction, the full moon is Saturday night, my birthday as it happens. I probably won't howl, though.)

The way I tell if the moon is waxing or waning is to see how the moon's "shape" corresponds to the letters "D - O - C" If the moon looks like a filled in "D", then the moon is waxing or coming full. When it looks like the letter "C", then the moon is waning.

(If someone tells you it's waning, they might not be talking about the moon. It could very well be Elmer Fudd caught in a thunderstorm)

The procedure is reversed if you're in the Southern Hemisphere; the letters are "C-O-D". This is better explained at Moon Phases - Names and images of the 8 phases of the moon

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I wanted to include a moon widget, but the darned thing takes over the entire post and "wraps itself" around my comments. I signed up at the site to get the code, but then had to jump through hoops to find it. I also wanted to nab the code for the image (and not javascript) version, but it never let me sign in. Oh well. Life's too short to waste time on such crapola.

The old reliable Wunderground still offers up all sorts of stickies for your blog or website, including this moon graphic: