Describe me as an environmental geek — watching our native landscape here in Oakland County be compromised over the decades. From the invasion of Phragmites to the loss of native ecosystems, I want to raise awareness for environmental issues facing Oakland County. I hope to add native plants to the landscape one backyard at a time.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Just in Time for the Fall Autumal Equinox
Don't tell the flowers, but today is the Fall (Autumal) Equinox. Yesterday, as I was going through the garden, these remaining flowers were there for my enjoyment. Anemone, still offering pollen for the bees, the last day lily, Tiger Kitten,purely for my enjoyment, Echinacea or Cone flowers, with their seeds hidden within the drying seed head, food for the Chickadees and Goldfinches this winter. The Rebeckia, with its vibrant yellow color, soon to match the slowly changing trees.
September 22, 2014, Monday at 10:29 PM EDT is the Fall Equinox. This is the time when the sun will cross the celestial equator-the imaginary line in the sky above the earth's Equator-from north to south, and a new season begins.
7:19 AM was sunrise, the last fleeting hours of summer . . . .
7:32 PM will be sunset, 12 hours and 12 minutes of daylight...... fall arrives at 10:29 PM in total darkness.
In Latin, Equinox means equal night, but in reality the Equinox doesn't always have to be exactly 12 hours of daylight, we have 12 minutes more daylight this fall on this day, then we do night. So not until Friday, March 20, 2015, the Spring or vernal Equinox, will we again experience equal night or so we think.
But by then we are so desperate for more light and longer days, after the shorter days of fall and even shorter days of winter, we appreciate the beginning of equal day and night leading to the long days of summer. . .
The two days of the year for the Equinox, fall and spring, the earth tilts neither toward or away from the sun, it is perpendicular to the sun's rays. Every other day of the year, the earth tilts 23.5 degrees, again, either towards or away from the sun, depending on Spring or Fall. So maybe we can blame the tilting of the Earth for some of our crazy unbalanced days.
Go out and enjoy the remaining hours of Summer.... get ready to enjoy the days of fall, with the remaining flowers, vibrant trees and animals preparing for the short days of winter.
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