Welcome, Sun!

The snow flurries are flying and there are ice-fishermen on the lake... but today at 11:57 am local time, the sun will be directly over the equator, and then... we welcome the sun back to the northern hemisphere!  Or more accurately, we celebrate the fact that our northern hemisphere is, once again, tilted toward the sun (because if course, the sun didn't change anything...)

Equinoxes and solstices have been celebrated in cultures throughout the world since ancient times; we join in a long human tradition as we recognize this day!

Other things to note (besides the snow flurries)... I wish I had more to report on this first official day of spring! 

Silver maple flower buds are very swollen. 

RWBBs are all over!

In my yard, bulb plants (daffodils, crocuses) have emerged from the soil... 

Welcome, Sun! (And Snow!)

On our journey through space, we hit a momentous occasion today. We have come to the point in our tilted orbit where the sun passes over the equator (at 12:32 CDT) and now shines more directly on the northern hemisphere.

We are thankful to the sun for our life force, the energy that fuels our bodies (and everything else), we are thankful for the plants that sustain us by creating sugars with the aid of its rays, we are thankful for lingering evenings in the yard and the feeling of warmth on our cheeks.

Today we welcome the sun... but someone forgot to inform the sun! We woke up to a white world.

This morning, Chris started his spring digging through the snow and earth to make a grave for Draco, the snake who died in the night of unknown causes. Sadness reigns for the moment.

Equi-obnoxious

Well, it's almost that time. At 4:18 pm CDT on Sept 22, we lose our sunshine. The autumnal equinox marks the moment when the sun crosses over the equator and enters the skies above the southern hemisphere. OK, If you want to get technical about it, the sun does nothing at all. It's earth that does the moving, relative. In its orbit around Sol, the earth remains tilted in the same direction. That means for half the year, the northern hemisphere points toward the sun, and for the other half the southern hemisphere does so. And us northerners are losing our reign. The angle of our rays will become more and more depressing -- we will have long shadows even mid-day. Our days will become so short that Monday through Friday, working folk will hardly see the light of them.

The winter solstice is a celebratory time... We have reached the bottom and are on our way out, slow as the ride will be. The vernal equinox, also happy. After all, we get the sun in our hemisphere again. Summer solstice, despite marking the beginning of day-light shortening, is also celebratory... especially if you're a teacher and a plant-lover, as I am, the start of summer is nothing but good. But the autumnal equinox... no celebrating on my end. I mean, I do love a crisp fall day, bright colors and all. And I appreciate all the seasons -- cold and heat, wetness and dryness. But I do like sun. I like to wake up when it's light. And I those low sun angles really make me gloomy. So in the end, beautiful as snow can be, I'm happiest when the sun's on our side.