Category: astronomical events

Friday Unrelated Information

Karen

1. Today is the Vernal Equinox. We made it! Here are some science facts (sciiiiience!):

  • The fall and spring equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west.
  • The equinoxes are also the only days of the year when a person standing on the Equator can see the sun passing directly overhead.
  • On the Northern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox day, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight.
  • A person at the South Pole would also see the sun skim the horizon, but it would signal the start of six months of darkness.

2. The Obamas are planting a kitchen garden at the White House–it’s the first time there’s been a garden on the grounds since WWII, when there was a Victory Garden.

We Made It

Karen

Yesterday marked the Winter Solstice, so at least we can have more light as we fight “the depressive psychological effects of winter on individuals and societies,” which Wikipedia defines as “coldness, tiredness, malaise, and inactivity.”

I’ve mostly escaped malaise and Mr. Isbell and I have been pretty good about staying active, but the coldness this year has been getting to me. My fingers and toes are ALWAYS cold, and Toby and I are in front of the space heater like it’s a roaring fire. (If only it were.)

But at least December is almost over, then there’s just January and February. We can do it, right?

Things I Forgot To Mention Friday

Karen3 Comments

1. Talk Like a Pirate Day, of course, but that was pointed out.

2. My brother’s birthday Saturday. He got to eat beef and quote lots of Family Guy. And he has an even BIGGER lawn tractor (so big that he likes to drop “lawn” and just say “tractor”), so I think he’s pretty happy.

3. Friday was the anniversary of when Keats wrote his ode, “To Autumn” in 1819. You can read it here.

And today is the equinox. I guess summer is now officially over.

I Think The Druids Are Becoming Ineffective Against The Weather

Karen1 Comment

Today is May 1–May Day, International Workers Day, or Beltane, depending on how you choose to celebrate it. Since I’m (usually) struck by how the weather matches the old Celtic holidays, I’ll talk about Beltane:

“The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice…was Midsummer.”

First day of summer, hm? I woke up to snow this morning. I think you failed us, Druids.

Druids, Pay Attention

Karen

Tomorrow is the summer solstice, at 9:36 a.m. In honor of that, don your robes, pick a chant, and go somewhere tonight to watch the sun set. If you’re a local druid, I suggest our own take on Stonehenge, the Spiral Jetty. (Okay, it has nothing in common with Stonhenge except rocks. But it’s all we have.)

Happy Belated Vernal Equinox

Karen


I never had a chance to post yesterday, so I’ll make up for it today with some real highbrow literature. This is Virginia Woolf, from the middle section of To The Lighthouse, titled, appropriately enough, “Time Passes.” I think of it whenever, well, time passes.

But what, after all, is one night? A short space, especially when the darkness dims so soon, and so soon a bird sings, a cock crows, or a faint green quickens, like a turning leaf, in the hollow of a wave.

Never made it to the demolition derrby over the weekend. However, there will be chariot races this Saturday and Sunday, at the same arena (Golden Spike). Why we don’t all move to Ogden, I don’t know–they have derbys, chariot races, refineries, trains.