As anyone reading my blog for some time might suspect, I lived in farming regions as a kid. \u00a0Farmers are not necessarily seen as nature-centred, but of course they are. The farmers I knew owned family operations that were partially – or mainly – subsistence. \u00a0 Those farms were mixed: \u00a0they had some orchard, some potatoes, some carrots or beets, some corn, some hay, etc, along with pigs, cows, and chickens. \u00a0The richer farmers had dairy operations – but they, too, had large fields of other crops.<\/p>\n
With so many crops to plant, take care of, and harvest, the farmers’ kids were constantly aware of the seasons. \u00a0At school, as well, the seasons were in constant focus. \u00a0I wasn’t a farmer, but it gets in your blood. \u00a0To this day, I’m mindful of the season and its significance. \u00a0Ironically, where I live now isn’t much oriented towards farming.<\/p>\n
To begin with, what’s the significant difference between the spring and summer seasons, as opposed to the fall and winter ones? \u00a0The answer is length of day: \u00a0during the spring and summer, more than half the 24-hour day is between sunrise and sunset. During fall and winter, the time between sunrise and sunset is less than twelve hours.<\/p>\n
During autumn, the days continually shorten – although the rate slackens as you approach the shortest day, which is the beginning of winter. \u00a0Then, the days start to lengthen, reaching 12 hours on the day spring begins. \u00a0(The timing may not be exact everywhere, but fundamentally it’s true.)<\/p>\n
With that in mind, there must be a day in winter – near the end of it – that’s the same length as today. \u00a0Counting the days since fall began (on September 23 this year, if I recall), there’ve been 17, today included. \u00a0The equivalent day on the other side should be 17 days before spring starts. \u00a0This year, it starts on March 20th; therefore, March 3rd should be the about the same length (in daylight) as today.<\/p>\n
The people at the National Research Council of Canada have a great gadget called a sunrise\/sunset calculator.<\/a> I checked it for today (October 10) and March 3. \u00a0Here are the results:<\/p>\n
| Day<\/th>\n | Sunrise to Sunset (hrs)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|
| October 10<\/td>\n | 11.11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| March 3<\/td>\n | 11.15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n I think we’ll agree the day lengths match pretty closely:)<\/p>\n Autumn might be my favourite season. What academic can fail to like it, given its connection with school? Of course, Halloween – my favourite holiday – is in autumn. With the fresh, brisk air, the smell of wood smoke, the fallen leaves skidding along the pavement, the early darkness – the fall is a magical time.<\/p>\n Look for more on the weather and seasons in future posts.<\/p>\n |