Autumn Coming

Sunday is the first official day of the fall season.

Big pond at the end of summer

 The autumnal equinox September 22, 2013 at 4:44 P.M EDT.

 From  The Farmer's Almanac:

"The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night." The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the Sun crosses the celestial equator.
From here on out, the temperatures begin to drop and the days start to get shorter than the night."

Autumn folklore :

Autumn days come quickly, like the running of a hound on the moor. - Irish proverb
Trees snapping and cracking in the autumn indicate dry weather.
If, in the fall of the leaves in October, many of them wither on the boughs and hang there, it betokens a frosty winter and much snow.
Spring rain damps;
Autumn rain soaks.
Of autumn's wine, now drink your fill; the frost's on the pumpkin, and snow's on the hill.
- The Old Farmer's Almanac, 1993

Question: Why aren't there exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness on the fall equinox?
Answer: On the equinoxes, the very center of the Sun sets just 12 hours after it rises. But the day begins when the upper edge of the Sun reaches the horizon (which happens a bit before the center rises), and it doesn't end until the entire Sun has set. Not only that, but the Sun is actually visible when it is below the horizon, as Earth's atmosphere refracts the Sun's rays and bends them in an arc over the horizon. According to our former astronomer, George Greenstein, "If the Sun were to shrink to a starlike point and we lived in a world without air, the spring and fall equinoxes would truly have 'equal nights.'"
Question: The autumn leaves seems to be hanging on longer than usual in my neck of the woods. Is this an indication of winter weather to come?
Answer: There's an old weather proverb that states, "If autumn leaves are slow to fall, prepare for a cold winter." Or perhaps you just haven't had the kind of wind or rain needed to shake the leaves loose from their branches. But look on the bright side—you get to look at the beautiful autumn foliage for a little bit longer!

Live and learn:
Something I learned last year: you don't capitalize the f in fall or the a in autumn. Same with winter, spring and summer.  I always did before.
Something I learned in the 3rd grade:   Never use the article 'the' when saying 'both of us'. "The" both of us is bad grammar. It is simply "both of us".

Happy weekend everyone.    May it be safe, relaxing and restorative.
Time to change my summer siggie I suppose, though I just love floating around with Garfield.