Arbitrary List of Popular Lights - Fall Equinox 2023 Edition
In honor of Fall Equinox, I've made an updated list of popular lights. Days are getting shorter and nights are getting longer - it might be time for a new flashlight.
The weather is "summer". But it's almost equinox now. The sun rises much later and sets much earlier than in June or July. And it doesn't rise up as high into the sky at midday. So the angles are different.
We have summer things and summer habits for hot weather. A few days ago I set up the table under a tree and an umbrella for lunch, just as I would in summer. But the shade from the tree was wrong. I had to put the umbrella in different place so the shade would fall on the people eating.
Now that I've noticed it, I see it all the time. In the morning, the sun is much lower than it should be in "summer". In the evening, it sets in an "autumny" way, but it's hot like a summer evening.
The plants that need a many hours of sunshine are starting to shut down, because there's only a bit more than 12 hours of daylight left, even if those hours are very bright and hot.
I guess this must be more obvious closer to the poles? Anyone else feeling this way?
(I'm at 48° N. We have about 16 hours day and 8 hours night at summer solstice, and 8 hours day and 16 hours night at winter solstice here.)
For the avoidance of doubt, in the Northern Hemisphere, today is not the last day of summer 2023 and autumn does not arrive tomorrow. The first day of September is the start of 'meteorological autumn', which is just an invented term and convenient way to mark the change of seasons as one month ends and another begins. In reality, autumn arrives at the equinox, which is another three weeks away on 23 Sep 2023 at 07:50am.
This is Chicagohenge, a twice-yearly event where the sun aligns with the axis created by our grid system of streets at the spring/autumn equinoxes. Instagram tip for tourists: plan to gather around 6:00p to get a good shot.
Celebrating the equinox or solstice makes as much sense as any religion. Except of course, the equinox is a demonstrable thing, with like, you know, actual effects on our lives and planet. #equinox #atheist
As an #Atheist I shun the holidays that have a specific religious connotation.
Anything with "Saint" in the front of the holiday, nope.
Christmas? nope.
Secular people mark the passage of time and set aside time to reflect. Most religious holidays are timed (or were moved) to coincide with Solstices and Equinoxes of the pagans that watched the skies.
As a secular person, my seasonal holidays are linked to the sun and the passage of time on this earth.
Happy Vernal #Equinox
These "official start days for seasons" that Brits and Americans have are so weird to me.
Like... "Winter solstice is the start of winter"?
Nah, dude, It's called "Midwinter" for a reason. Just like Midsummer isn't the start of summer but the middle of summer.
And spring is from March 1st to the last of May thank you very much.
As it's Spring Equinox here in Australia, I think poetry is in order. Here's Spring, The Sweet Spring by Thomas Nashe, a contemporary of Shakespeare....
Spring, the sweet spring, is the year’s pleasant king,
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day,
And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!
The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to witta-woo!
Spring, the sweet spring!
Autumn is here. And soon, rumor has it, rain. Real rain. Meaning we might just have an October where I don’t have to be hypervigilant about fire!
It is my sincere hope that #ClimateChange means that our rainy season will shift too and maybe even cancel the fall fire season. Hey, a girl can dream.
In the meantime, Lucy demands admiration. So admire her! 😁♥️
The idea that an egg is easier to balance on the spring equinox has since become an American urban legend, and egg-balancing events are sometimes held on that date. #Sping#Equinox#Myth#Legend#Balance#Egg#Video